
G A L L ü S 



OK 



EOMAN SCENES 



OF 



THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS. 

WITH NOTES AND EXCURSUSES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ^-^^ 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OP THE ROMANS. 

BY PEOFESSOE W.^ A. BECKEE. 



TRANSLATED BY THB 

EEV. FKEDEEICK METCALFE, M.A. 

FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND 
HEAD MASTER OF JBRIGHTON COLLEGE. 



THIBJ) EDITION. 



NEW YOEK: 

D. APPLETON & CO., 445 BEOADWAY. 

1866, 



('A 0/ /fo 



j^y transfer frona 

>at. OmeeLilj, 

AprlJ 1©14. 



ADVERTISEMENT 

TO 

THE SECOND EDITION. 



SINCE the appearance of the first edition of Gallus in 
an English form, its learned author, as well as the 
veteran Hermann of Leipsic, to whom he dedicated his 
Charicles, have been numbered with the dead, while the 
irreparable loss thus sustained by the literary world was 
heightened by the decease, soon after, of Orelli at Zurich. 

At the period of his too early removal. Professor 
Becker was engaged in collecting the materials for a 
second improved and enlarged edition of Gallus : the task 
of completing which was consigned to Professor Rein of 
Eisenach, and the deceased's papers placed at his disposal. 
Besides interweaving in the work these posthumous notes, 
the new editor has likewise added very much valuable 
matter of his own, correcting errors where they occurred, 
throwing new light on obscure points of criticism or an- 
tiquarian knowledge, and, where the explanations were 
too brief, giving them greater development. 

He has further adopted the plan of the English 
editor, whereby the Excursuses were thrown together at 
the end, so as not to interfere with the even tenor of the 
narrative; and the woodcuts removed from the end to 
their proper place in the body of the text. Much matter 
has also been extracted from the notes and embodied in 
the Appendix. These changes have given a unity, con- 



vi ADVEETISEMENT. 

secutiveness, and completeness to the work which must 
materially enhance its literary value. Indeed, so great 
have been the alterations and additions, and there has 
been so much transposition and remodelling, that this 
English edition has required nearly as much time and 
labour as the preceding one. 

By the advice of friends many of the citations have 
now been given at length. 

The Excursus on the Bulilerinnen has been entirely 
omitted. 

It may be added, that the first edition having been 
for some time exhausted, in order to lose as little time 
as possible, the proof sheets were, by the kindness of the 
Grerman publisher, forwarded to this country as they 
issued from the press. The editor may be permitted to 
observe, in conclusion, that he is glad to find from the 
extensive circulation of Gallus in this country and Ame- 
rica, as well as from the opinions of the press, that the 
praise he ventured to bestow on the work has been fully 
borne out. 

Brighton : Mai/ 1849. 



TEANSLATOE'S PEEFACE. 



^^ ALLUS oder Römische Scenen aus der Zeit Augusts 
^^ — such is the German title of Professor Becker's 
work — was published at Leipsic in 1838. The novelty of 
its conception, the comparatively fresh ground it broke in 
the field of Eoman Antiquities, and the exceeding erudi- 
tion brought to bear on the subject, at once arrested the 
attention of Grerman scholars, and it has ever since been 
considered, what its author ventured to hope it would be, 
' a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing 
about the private life of the Eomans.' Soon after its 
publication, a very lengthened and eulogistic critique ap- 
peared in the Times London newspaper ; and as it seldom 
happens that that Journal can find space in its columns 
for notices of this description, no little weight was attached" 
to the circumstance, and a proportionate interest created 
in the work. Proposals were immediately made for 
publishing it in an English dress, and the book was adver- 
tised accordingly; but unforeseen difficulties intervened, 
arising from the peculiar nature of the work, and the plan 
was ultimately abandoned. 

In fact, in order to render the book successful in 
England, it was absolutely necessary that it should be 
somehow divested of its very Grerman appearance, which, 
how palatable soever it might be to the author's own 



viii TRANSLATOES PREFACE. 

countrymen, would have been caviare to the generality o:' 
English readers. For instance, instead of following eacl 
other uninterruptedly, the Scenes were separated by 2 
profound gulf of Notes and Excursuses, which, if plungec 
into, was quite sufficient to drown the interest of the tale. 
The present translator was advised to attempt certain 
alterations, and he was encouraged to proceed with the 
task by the very favourable opinion which some of our 
most distinguished scholars entertained of the original, 
and their desire that it should be introduced into this 
country. The notes have been accordingly transported 
from their intercalary position, and set at the foot of the 
pages in the narrative to which they refer. The Scenes 
therefore succeed each other uninterruptedly, so that the 
thread of the story is rendered continuous, and disen- 
tangled from the maze of learning with which the Excur- 
suses abound. These, in their turn, have been thrown 
together in an Appendix, and will doubtless prove a very 
substantial caput coence to those who shall have first dis- 
cussed the lighter portion of the repast. In addition to 
these changes, which it is hoped will meet with approba- 
tion, much curtailment has been resorted to, and the two 
volumes of the original compressed into one. In order to 
effect this, the numerous passages from Eoman and Grreek 
authors have, in many instances, been only referred to, 
and not given at length ; matters of minor importance 
have been occasionally omitted, and more abstruse points 
of disquisition not entered into. Those who may feel an 
interest in further inquiry, are referred to the Professor'?^ 
work, in four volumes, on Eoman Antiquities, now i:;i. 
course of publication in Grermany. At the same time, car ■ 
has been taken not to leave out any essential fact. 



TEAXSLATORS PEEFACE. ix 

The narrative, in spite of the author's modest esti- 
mate of this section of his labours, is really very interest- 
ing, nay, wonderfully so, considering the narrow limits he 
had prescribed for himself, and his careful avoidance of 
anything not founded on fact, or bearing the semblance of 
fiction. 

The idea of making an interesting story the basis of 
his exposition, and of thus ^ strewing with flowers the 
path of dry antiquity,' is most judicious. We have here 
a flesh and blood picture of the Eoman, as he lived and 
moved, thought and acted, worth more a thousand times 
than the disjecta Tnemhra, the dry skeleton, to be found 
in such books as Adam's Roman Antiquities^ and others 
of the same nature, which, however erudite, are vastly 
uninviting. 

In conclusion, the translator will be abundantly satis- 
fied if, by his poor instrumentality, the English student 
shall have became acquainted with a most instructive 
work, and thus his mind stimulated to the further inves- 
tigation of a subject fraught with peculiar fascination — 
the domestic habits and manners of the most remarkable 
people of antiquity. 

LoNDOi?: iUfa?/ 1844. 



AUTHOE'S PEEFACE. 



THEEE was once a period, when no portion of classic 
lore was more zealously cultivated than the study of 
Antiquities, by which is meant everything appertaining to 
the political institutions, worship, and houses, of the 
ancients. Though the two former of these are the most 
important, in an historical point of view, yet objects of 
domestic antiquity excited still greater attention ; and as 
it was evident that on the understanding of them depended 
the correct interpretation of ancient authors, the smallest 
minutiae were deemed worthy of investigation. 

The greatest philologists of the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, such men as Lipsius, Casaubonus, and 
Salmasius, took great delight in this particular branch of 
archaeology. The last-mentioned scholar has, in his Exer- 
citt. ad Solinum, in the notes to the Scrijptt, Hist 
Äugustce, and Tertullian, De Pallio, as well as elsewhere, 
displayed his usual acumen and erudition. And although 
more recent discoveries have often set him rio-ht in the 

o 

explanation of manners and customs, still his must always 
be considered as a rich compilation of most judiciously 
chosen materials. 

It however soon became apparent that written ac- 
counts were frequently insufficient; and, as monuments 
were gradually brought to light from amidst the rubbish 



xii author's preface. 

that hid them, their importance grew more and more 
manifest. These witnesses of departed grandeur and mag- 
nificence, of early habits and customs, were canvassed 
with increasing animation ; and, in Italy, a great number 
of works appeared descriptive of them; which, however, 
often evinced rather an ostentation of extensive learning 
than real depth and penetration. The Italians possessed 
the advantage of having the monuments before their eyes, 
and moreover, the Dutch and German scholars contented 
themselves with throwing together a quantity of loose and 
unconnected observations, without bestowing much inves- 
tigation on their relevancy. But it was after the conclusion 
of the seventeenth century, that this fault reached its 
height, and the writings became exceedingly unpalatable, 
from the tasteless fashion of jumbling ancient with modern, 
and Christian with heathen customs. 

Even up to the present time not much has been done 
in explanation of this particular branch of archaeology, 
and little as such works as Pignorius De Servis, Ferrarius 
De re Vestiaria, Mercurialis De Arte Gymnastica, Ciaco- 
nius De Triclinio, Paschalius De Coronis, &c., are calcu- 
lated to give satisfaction, they still continue to be cited as 
authorities. Whilst the political institutions have been 
subjected to profound investigation, the private life of the 
Eomans has been quite neglected, or nearly so ; and the 
hand-books, which could not well be entirely silent on 
this head, have merely presented us hasty notices, taken 
from the older writers. 

The works of Maternus, Cilano, and Mtsch, may 
have been useful in their day, but they are now quite 
obsolete. Meierotto, who undertook to describe the cus- 
toms and habits of the Eomans, has confined himself to 



AUTHORS PREFACE. xiii 

making a compilation of a quantity of anecdotes, culled 
from the old authors, and deducing some general charac- 
teristics from them. Couture has also written three essays, 
entitled, De la Vie Privee des Romains in the Mem. de 
VAcad. d. Inscr. i. 

The most important work that has been written, at 
least upon one part of Eoman life, is Böttiger's Sahina, 
as it is the result of actual personal investigation. This 
deservedly famed archseologist succeeded in imparting 
an interest even to less important points, and combin- 
ing therewith manifold instruction, notwithstanding his 
tediousness, and the numerous instances of haste and lack 
of critical acumen. We must not omit to mention Mazois' 
Palace of Scaur us. The work has merits, though its 
worth has been much increased by translation, and it is 
a pity that the editors did not produce an original work 
on the subject, instead of appending their notes to a text 
which, though written with talent, is hurried and uncri- 
tical. Dezobry's PoTne du Siede d^ Auguste, may also 
prove agreeable reading to those who are satisfied with 
light description, void alike of depth, precision, and scien- 
tific value. It would be still more futile to seek for 
instruction in Mirbach's Roman Letters. In the second 
edition of Creuzer's Abriss. der Römischen Antiquitäten, 
Professor Bahr has given a very valuable treatise on the 
objects connected with the meals and funerals. It is the 
most complete thing of the kind that has appeared, though 
the work being only in the form of an abstract, a more 
detailed account was inadmissible. 

In the total absence of any work, satisfactorily ex- 
plaining the more important points of the domestic life of 
the ancients, the author determined to write on this 



xiv AUTHORS PREFACE. 

subject, and was engaged during several years in col- 
lecting materials for the purpose. His original intention 
was to produce a systematic hand-book; but finding that 
this would lead to too much brevity and curtailment, 
and exclude entirely several minor traits, which although 
not admitting of classification, were highly necessary to a 
complete portrait of Eoman life, he was induced to imitate 
the example of Böttiger and Mazois, and produce a con- 
tinuous story, with explanatory notes on each chapter. 
Those topics which required more elaborate investigation, 
have been handled at length in Excursuses. 

The next question was, whether a fictitious character, 
or some historical personage, should be selected for the 
hero. The latter was chosen, although objections may be 
raised against this method; as, after all, a mixture of 
fiction must be resorted to in order to introduce several 
details which, strictly speaking, may perhaps not be his- 
torical. Still there were preponderant advantages in 
making some historical fact the basis of the work, par- 
ticularly if the person selected was such as to admit of the 
introduction of various phases of life, in the course of his 
biography. A personage of this sort presented itself in 
Cornelius Grallus, a man whose fortunate rise from obscurity 
to splendour and honour, intimacy with Augustus, love of 
Lycoris, and poetical talents, render him not a little 
remarkable. It is only from the higher grades of society 
that we can obtain the materials for a portraiture of 
Koman manners ; of the lower orders but little is known. 
The Augustan age is decidedly the happiest time to select. 
Indeed, little is known of the domestic habits of the pre- 
vious period, as Varro's work. De Vita Populi Romani, 
the fragments of which are valuable enough to make 



AüTHOE'S PEEFACE. XV 

US deplore its loss, has unluckily not come 'down to us. 
The rest of the earlier writers, with the exception of the 
comedians, whose accounts we must receive with caution, 
throw but little light on this side of life in their times, 
inasmuch as domestic relations sunk then into insisfni- 
ficance, compared with the momentous transactions of 
public life ; a remark partially applicable to the age of 
Augustus also. The succeeding writers are the first to 
dwell with peculiar complacency on the various objects of 
domestic luxury and comfort, which, now that their minds 
were dead to nobler aims, had become the most important 
ends of existence. 

Hence it is, that apart from the numerous antique 
monuments >vhich have been dug up, and placed in 
museums (e. g. the Museum Borhonicurri), our most 
valuable authorities on Eoman private life are the later 
poets, as Juvenal, Martial, Statins ; then Petronius, Se- 
neca, Suetonius, the two Plinies, Cicero's speeches and 
letters, the elegiac poets, and especially Horace. Next 
come the grammarians and the digests ; while the Grreek 
authors, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, Dio 
Cassius, Lucian, Athenseus, and the lexicographers, as 
Pollux, still further enlighten us. The author has made 
it a rule never to quote these last as authorities, except 
when they expressly refer to Eoman customs, or when 
these correspond with the Grrecian. He has also confined 
himself to a citation of the best authorities, and such as he 
had actually consulted in person. Their number might 
have been considerably increased from Fabricius, Bünau's 
Catalogue^ and other works of the kind. 

In dividing the work into twelve scenes, the author 
disclaims all intention of writing a romance. This would, 

a 



XTi AUTHOES PREFACE. 

no doubt, have been a far easier task than the tedious 
combination of a multitude of isolated facts into a single 
picture ; an operation allowing but very little scope to the 
imagination. It was, in fact, not unlike putting together 
a picture in mosaic, for which purpose are supplied a 
certain number of pieces of divers colours. What the 
author has interpolated, to connect the whole together, is 
no more than the colourless bits, indispensable to form 
the ground-work of the picture, and bring it clearly before 
the eye. His eagerness to avoid anything like romance, 
may possibly have rather prejudiced the narrative, but, 
even as it is, more fiction perhaps is admitted than is 
strictly compatible with the earnestness of literary in- 
quiry. 

The character of Grallus may seem to have been 
drawn too pure and noble ; but the author does not fear 
any censure on this score. His crime has been here sup- 
posed to be that mentioned by Ovid, linguam nimio 
non tenuisse mero; and indeed the most authentic writers 
nowhere lay any very grave offence to his charge. Possibly, 
the reader may have been surprised that Grallus has not 
been introduced in more intellectual company, since his 
position towards Augustus, and friendship with Virgil — 
very probably with Propertius also — would have yielded a 
fine opportunity for so doing. But, apart from the hardi- 
hood of an attempt to describe the sayings and doings 
of men like these, nothing would have been gained for 
our purpose, while their very intellectual greatness would 
have prevented the author from dwelling so much on the 
mere externals of life. Moreover, it is by no means cer- 
tain that the early friendship between Virgil and Grallus 



AUTHOES PEEFACE. xvii 

continued to the close of the latter's career, after he had 
fallen into disfavour with Augustus. Such persons as are 
here portrayed, abounded in Eome, as we learn from 
Juvenal and Martial. 

In describing G-allus as coelebs, the author wished to 
institute an inquiry into those points of domestic life 
which had hitherto been little attended to, or imperfectly 
investigated. As far as the customs, occupations, re- 
quirements, &c., of the fair sex were concerned, Böttiger 
has given very satisfactory information in his Sahina ; so 
that the introduction of a matron into Grallus' family 
might have led to a repetition of matters which that 
writer has already discussed. In that case the author 
must also have entirely omitted Lycoris — a personage 
affording an excellent opportunity of introducing several 
topics of interest relating to the sex. The relations of 
marriage, so far as they form the basis of the household, 
could not be passed over in silence; but it is only in 
this point of view that the Excursus on Marriage must 
be considered, as it makes no pretensions to survey the 
matter in its whole extent, either as a religious or civil 
institution. 

The author was desirous to have introduced an ac- 
count of the public shows, theatre, amphitheatre, and 
circus, but they required such a lengthy preamble, that 
the subject was omitted entirely, as being too bulky for 
the plan of the work. 

In treating of matters so various, it is quite possible 
that the author may have occasionally offered erroneous 
opinions; nor can it be denied that some chapters have 
been elaborated with more inclination than others ; all he 



xviii author's PEEFACE. 

wishes the reader to believe of him is, that he has never 
shunned the labour of earnest personal investigation ; and 
he hopes that a work has been composed, which may serve 
as a desirable repertory of whatever is most worth knowing 
about the private life of the Eomans. 



I 



CONTENTS. 



Advertisement to the]^Second Edition 
Translator's Preface . * 

Author's Preface . . 



PAGE 
V 

vii 
xi 



GALLUS. 



SCENE THE FIRST. 

THE EOMAtT FAMILY .... 
ExcuKSUs I. The Women, or Eoman Marriage 
„ II. The Children and Education 

III. The Slaves 
„ IV. The Kelations, Friends and Clients 



1 
153 
182 
199 
226 



SCENE THE SECOND. 

THE EOMAN HOUSE .... 
ExcTJESus I. The Structure of the Building . 

The Manner of Fastening the Doors 
The Household Utensils 
The Manner of Lighting 



II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 



The Clocks 



14 
231 
281 
285 
308 
315 



CONTENTS. 



SCENE THE THIRD. 



Excursus 





PAÖE 


D LETTEES . 


. 28 


I. The Library 


. 322 


IL The Books 


. 325 


III. The BookseUers 


. 334 


IV. The Letter 


. 338 



SCENE THE FOURTH. 
THE JOUENEY .... 

Excursus L The Lectica and the Carriages 
II. The Inns 



39 

341 
351 



SCENE THE FIFTH. 
THE VILLA 

Excursus. The G-ardens 



57 
358 



SCENE THE SIXTH. 



LYCOEIS 



70 



SCENE THE SEVENTH. 

BATHS AND GYMNASTICS 85 

Excursus I. The Baths ..... 366 
„ IL The Gi-ame of Ball, and other Gymnastic Ex- 
ercises' ..... 398 



DEESS 



SCENE THE EIGHTH. 



Ö8 



Excursus I. The Dress of the Men . . . .408 

„ IL The Dress of the Women . . .431 

Appendix. Material, Colour, Manufacture, and Cleaning of 

Garments . . . . . . 442 



CONTENTS. 



SCENE THE NINTH. 







PAGE 


TTTl^, BANQUET 


. 


. 110 


EXCUESUS I. 


The Meals 


. 451 


n. 


The Triclinmm . 


. 471 


in. 


The Table-utensils 


. 476 


IV. 


The Drinks 


.485 



SCENE THE TENTH. 

THE DEINKEES .... 
ExcuESUS I. The Chaplets and Games 
„ II. The Social G-ames 



125 
496 
499 



SCENE THE ELEVENTH. 



THE CATASTEOPHE 



134 



SCENE THE TWELFTH. 
THE GEAVE .... 

ExcTJESus, The Burial of the Dead 



142 
505 



Index 



525 



G A L L U S 



SCENE THE FIKST. 



NOCTUENAL EETUEN HOME. 

THE third watcti of the night was drawing to a close, 
and the mighty city lay buried in the deepest 
silence, unbroken, save by the occasional tramp of the 
Nocturnal Triumviri ^^ as they passed on their rounds to 



* The nightly superintendence of 
Kome soon became one of the duties of 
the triumviri or tresviri, treviri cajpi- 
tales, who had to preserve the peace 
and security of the city, and especially 
to provide against fires. Liv. xxix.. 
14 : Trimviris capitalihus mandatum 
est, utvigilias dis])onerent per urbem 
servarentque, ne qici nocturni coetus 
fierent ; utque ab incendiis cavere- 
tur, adjutores triumviris quinqueviri 
uti eis Tiberim tunc quique regionis 
(sdificiis prcsessent. VaL Max. viii. 
1, 5. M, Malvius, Cn. Lollius, L. 
Sextilius, triumviri, quod ad incen- 
dium in sacra via ortum extinguen- 
dum tardius venerant, a trib. pi. 
die dicta ad popidum damnati sunt. 
They were also called triumviri noc- 
turni. Liv. ix. 46 ; Val. Max. viii. 
1, 6, P. Villius triumvir nocturnus 
a P. Aquilio, trib. pi. accusatus — 
quia vigilias negligcntius circumie- 
rat. The timorous Sosias alludes to 
them, AmpMtryo Plauti, i. 1, 3 : 

Quid f aciam nunc,si tresviri me in carcerem 
compegerint ? 

because they arrested those whom 
they found in the street late at night ; 



and we find the vigiles discharging 
the same function. Itaque vigiles, 
qui custodiebant vicinam regionem, 
rati ardere Trimalchionis domum ef- 
fregeriint januam subito et cum aqua 
securibusque tumultuari suo jure 
coipericnt. Cf. Seneca, Epist. 64. 
When Petrandus speaks of water, we 
must suppose that the watch were 
provided with fire-buckets ; we can 
scarcely assume that engines {sipfio- 
nes) are alluded to, although Beck- 
mann points out, with much proba- 
bility, that one of the means of extin- 
guishing fire in the time of Trajan 
was referred to in Pliny, Ep. x. 42, 
and Apollodorus in Vett. Mathem. 
0pp. p. 32. V. also Isidor. xx. 6 ; 
Schneider, Eclog. Phys. i. 225, ii. 
117; Colum. iii. 10; denique Nat. 
ii. 16. Buckets {hama, Plin. x. 42 ; 
Juv. xiv. 305) and hatchets {dolabra. 
Dig. i. 15, 3) were part of the ap- 
paratus for extinguishing fires. Pe- 
tronii Satires, c. 78. Augustus re- 
modelled this nightly watch, forming 
seven cohorts, headed by a prefect, 
called Prcefectus Vigilum. Suet. 
Aug. 30; Paul. Big.'i. 15. In spite 



B 



GALLUS. 



[Scene T. 



see that the fire-watchmen were at their posts, or per- 
haps by the footstep of one lounging homewards from 
a late debauch.^ The last streak of the waning moon 
faintly illumined the temples of the Capitol and the Quad- 
rigse, and shot a feeble gleam over the fanes and palaces 
of the Alta Semita, whose roofs, clad with verdant shrubs 
and flowers, diffused their spicy odours through the warm 
night-air, and, while indicating the abode of luxury and 
joy, gave no sign of the dismal proximity of the Campus 
Sceleratus. 

In the midst of this general stillness, the door of one 
of the handsomest houses creaked upon its hinges; its ves- 
tibule ^ ornamented with masterpieces of Grecian sculpture, 
its walls overlaid with costly foreign marble, and its doors 
and doorposts richly decorated with tortoise-shell and 
precious metals, sufficiently proclaimed the wealth of its 



of these precautions, fires frequently 
occurred ; and althougli the Romans 
possessed no fire-insurance offices, yet 
such munificent contributions were 
made for the sufferers' relief, that 
suspicion sometimes arose of the 
o"^niers of houses having themselves 
set them on fire. So says Martial, 
iii. 52 : 
Empta domus fuerat tibi, Tongiliane, du- 

centis ; 
Abstulit lianc nimimn casus in urbe 

frequens ; 
Collatmn est decies ; rogo, non potes ipse 

videri 
Incendisss tuam, Tongiliane, domum ? 

Juvenal describes the zeal of those 
who, not content vrith rendering 
pecuniary relief to the, sufferers, also 
made them presents of statues, pic- 
tures, books, and so forth. Sat. iii. 
215: 

meliora et plura reponit 
Persicus orboriim lautissimus, et merito jam 
Suspectus, tanquam ipse suas incenderit 
sedes. 

On the method of extinguishing fires, 
see also Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12 : 
Acetum q_uoqiie quod exstinguendi in- 



cendii causa paratur, item centoncs, 
siphones, jperticas quoque et scalas. 

2 Probably like Propertius, when 
he had the pleasant vision, described 
in ii. 29. Morning would frequently 
surprise the drinkers. Mart. i. 29. 
Biber e in lucem ; vii. 10, 5, coenarein 
lucera. The debauched life of those 
who, inverting the order of nature, 
slept all day and rioted all night, is 
well sketched by Seneca, Ej). 122. 
Turpis, qui alto sole semisomnisjacet, 
et cujus vigilia raedio die incipit. Et 
adhuc midtis hoc antelucanum est. 
Sunt qui officia lucis noctisque per- 
vertunt, nee ante diducunt oculos 
hesterna graves crapula, quam ap- 
petere non capit. He terms them 
Antipodes, who, according to a saying 
of Cato, iVec orientem unqvÄim solem 
necoccidentemviderunt. Cf. Colum. 
FrcBf. 16. 

* Por a description of the different 
parts of the house, accompanied by 
illustrations, see the Excursus on 
The Eoman House. 



Scene I.] NOCTURIS^AL EETUEN. 6 

owner. The ostiarius, rattling the chain that served as a 
safeguard against nocturnal depredators, opened the un- 
bolted door, disclosing as he did so the prospect into the 
entrance-hall, where a few of the numerous lamps were 
still burning on two lofty marble candelabra, — a proof 
that the inmates had not yet retired for the night. At 
the same time, there stalked through the hall a freedman, 
whose imperious mien, and disregard of the surl}^ porter, 
even more than the attending vicarius, at once pointed 
him out as one possessing much of the confidence of the 
lord of the mansion. He strode musingly across the thres- 
hold and vestibule towards the street, and after looking 
anxiously on all sides, through the dim light and the sha- 
dows of the lofty atria, turned to his attendant and said, 
*It is not his wont, Leonidas; and what possible reason can 
he have for concealing from us where he tarries at this late 
hour ? He never used to go unattended, whether to the 
abode of Lycoris, or to enjoy the stolen pleasures of the 
Subura. Why then did he dismiss the slaves to-day, and 
hide from us so mysteriously the place of liis destination ?' 

^Lydus tells me,' answered the vicar ins, 'that G-allus 
left the palace in evil mood, and when the slave who was 
putting on his sandals enquired whence he should escort 
him on his return, he bade him await him at home, and 
then hastened, clad in his coloured synthesis, in the direc- 
tion of the Via Sacra. Not long before his departure, 
Pomponius had left the house; and Lydus, impelled partly 
by curiosit}^, and partly by anxiety at the unusual excite- 
ment of his master, followed at a distance, and saw the 
two meet near the Temple of Freedom, after which they 
disappeared in the Via a Cyprio.' 

'Pomponius!' returned the freedman, 'the friend and 
confidant of Largus I No company he for an open and 
frank disposition, and still less at a jolly carousal, where 
the tongue is unfettered by copious goblets of pure Setinian 
wine, and of which the Sicilian proverb too often holds 
good the next morning, ' Cursed be he who remembers at 

B 2 



GALLÜS. 



[Scene I. 



the banquet "*. I don't know, Leonidas,' continued he, after 
a moment's reflection, ' what dismal foreboding it is that 
has for some time been pursuing me. The gods are, I 
fear, wroth with our house ; they hate too sudden pro- 
sperity, we are told. There was too, methinks, more tran- 
quillity in the small lodging^ near the Tiber than in this 
magnificent palace : more fidelity, when the whole house- 
hold consisted of few besides ourselves, than is to be found 
in this extensive mansion, filled with many decurice of 
dearly-purchased slaves, whom their lord hardly knows by 
sight, ministers of his splendour, but not of his comfort. 
Above all, there was more cordiality among those who used 
to climb the steep stairs, to partake of his simple fare, than 
in the whole troop of visitors who daily throng the vesti- 
bule and atrium to pay the customary morning greeting.' 



* Mtcrea) fMudfiova (TV/xTrSrav. Plut. 
S^mpos. i. 1. The sense in whicli 
Martial, i. 28, applies this proverb to 
Procillus, is certainly the only correct 
one. Lucian, Si/mp. iii. p. 420. 

5 The Eoman of wealth and dis- 
tinction occupied, with his family, 
the whole of his extensive mansion ; 
the less affluent rented, in proportion 
to their requirements and means, 
either an entire house, or a section of 
some larger insula, the name by 
which all hired houses went — and the 
poorer classes took a small canacu- 
liim in an upper story, though at a 
somewhat extravagant price, pensio 
eell(B, Mart, iii, 30. 3. The poet 
himself occupied a ccenaeidum of this 
description in the third sto?y, i. 118, 
7, Scalis habito trihus, sed altis ; Sind 
he says of the miserly Sanctra, who 
TTsed to take half his coena home 
with him, vii. 20, 20, Hisc per dv^ 
centns domum tulit scalas. As in an 
insula of this description the lodgers 
might be very different persons, the 



stairs to their private apartments 
often led upwards from the street out- 
side; an arrangement also to be found 
in the private houses. The cxnaculum 
assigned to Hispala, for her security 
after she had discovered the mon- 
strosities of the Bacchanalia, was of 
this description. Liv. xxxix. : Consul 
rogat socrum, ut aliquam partem 
cedium vacuam facer et, quo Hispala 
immigraret. Coenaculum super cedes 
datum est, scalis ferentibus in publi- 
cum obseratis, aditu in (sdes verso. 
We learn from Cicero, pro Codio, c. 
7, that lodgings could be let even as 
high as 30,000 sesterces, Ccelius, 
however, only went to the expense of 
10,000, i. e. £80. 

The Kalends of July were the 
usual, though perhaps not the only 
period for changing lodgings. Mart, 
xii. 32, humorously describes the 
moving oisifamilia sordida amount- 
ing to four persons, who managed to 
transfer all their goods and chattels 
at one journey. See the Excursus on 
TM Roman House. 



Scene I.] 



IS'OCTUKJS^AL EETUEN, 



'Alas! thou art right, Chresimus/ replied the slave; 
' this is no longer a place for comfort, and the gods have 
already given us more than one warning sign. It was not 
without an object that the bust of the great Cornelius fell 
down, and destroyed the new pavement inlaid with the 
image of Isis. Moreover, the beech at the villa, on the bark 
of which Lycoris carved the name^ of our master, has not 
put out leaves this spring ; thrice too have I heard in the 
stillness of night the ominous hooting of the owl.' 

Conversing thus, they had again reached the vestibule, 
Avithout perceiving a man who approached with somewhat 
uncertain gait, from the Temple of Flora. Over his under- 
garment he wore a festive robe of a bright red colour, 
such as those in which Eoman elegants of the day used to 
appear at state-baoquets. His sandals were fastened with 
thongs of the same dye ; while a chaplet of young myrtle 
and Milesian roses hung negligently down on the left brow, 
and appeared to be gliding from his perfumed locks *" ; in 
short, everything indicated that he was returning from 
some joyous carousal, where the cünpliovce had not been 
spared. 

Not till he had gained the vestibule did Chresimus 
become aware of his ajjproach. ^ There he is at last,' 
exclaimed the faithful freedmau, with a lightened heart. 
' All hail ! my lord. Anxiety for you brought us out of 
doors ; we are unused to find you abroad at so late an 
hour.' 

* I was with true friends,' answered the master, * and 
the hours vanish gaily and swiftly over the wine-cup, in 
familiar converse : Pomponius, too, was my companion 
nearly all the way home.' At this closing remark the 
visage of the freedman again became clouded ; he went 



6 Propert. i. 18, 21. 
Ah, quoties teneras resonant mea verba sub 
umbras, 
Scribitur et vestris Cyntbia corticibus. 

' Ovid, Amor. i. 6, 37. 



Ergo amor et modicum cii'ca mea tempora 

vinum 
Mecum est et madidis lapsa corona comis. 

Mart. xi. 8, 10 ; divitihus laj^sa co- 
rona comis ; cf. iii. Qb, 8. 



6 



GALLÜS. 



[Scene I. 



silently towards the door, and having opened it, he and 
Leonidas followed their lord into the house. While the osti- 
ariuswdiS engaged in bolting the door, Chresimns proceeded 
to light a wax-candle at one of the lamps, and led the way, 
through saloons and colonnades, to the sleeping apartment 
of his lord. Having arrived in the ante-room, the slave of 
the toilet, who was in waiting, received the synthesis and 
sandals, whilst the cubicukcrius threw open the door and 
drew back the many-coloured tapestry of Alexandria which 
served as a curtain. Then, after having again smoothed 
the purple coverlet that nearly concealed the ivory bed- 
stead, and remained till his master had reposed his'head on 
the variegated feather tapestry covering the pillow stuffed 
with the softest wool, he quitted the apartment. 

He who returned home thus late and lonely, without 
the usual accompaniment of slaves, was Cornelius Gtallus^, 



^ Tbe scanty accounts we possess 
respecting the personal history of 
Galkis, are to be found in Dio Cas- 
sius, Strabo, Suetonins, Virgil, Pro- 
pertius and Ovid. The few fragments 
of his poems, even if authentic, afford 
ns no further information. Gallus was 
of obscure, at least poor, ancestors, 
but that did not prevent his obtain- 
ing the favour of Octavianus, and 
being included in the select circle 
of his friends. In the war against 
Antony he was general of a division 
of the army, and Dio Cassius, li. 9, 
commemorates his skilful conquest 
and defence of the port of Paraeto- 
nium. After the subjugation of 
Egypt, Octavianus appointed him 
Prefect of that country. Dio Cass. c. 
17. 'Efc 8e rovTov rrjv Se Afyvirroy 
viroTeAr} eTroirjcre, koI reo TaW<a tw 
Kopvr]XiCi} eTrerpeif/e. irpSs re yap rh 
iroKvavdpov kol rcav iroXecou Koi rrjs 
X(*>pas Kal irpos rh pabiov rh re 
KOXKpov rcüv rpoTTwv avreav, rrjv re 
aiTOWouTreiav Kal rä XP'^M«'''« ouSeyl 



ßouXevr^ ovx ottcos ey^^'P'*'""' avr^v 
iroXfjLrjaev, k. r. A. We have no 
further account of him till on the 
occasion of his unfortunate end. Dio 
Cass. liii. 23. Se 5r; VaXKos Kopvr]- 
\ios Kal e^vßpi(xev virh rrjS rifiris. 
UoXXa fxef yap Kal [xdraLO. is rhv 
Avyovarou aneXi]pei, iroKXa Se Kal 
eiraina irapenparre. Kal yap Kal 
eiKüuas eavrov iv '6\r}, ws ei eTj/, rfj 
A'tyuTTTu} ecrrrjcre, Kal ra epya oaa 
iirenoiriKeL is ras Trvpa/J-iSas eVe'- 
ypa\pe. It was probably his expedi- 
dition against the rebellious cities of 
Heroopolis and Thebes, which caused 
his downfall. Strabo thus speaks of 
his end : rdWos /xeV ye Kopv^XLOs, 
6 TrpwTOS KaraaraOils eirapx'^'S rris 
X^P^s inrh Kaiaapos ri\v re 'Hpctiwv 
Tv6Xiv anoaracrav iiveXOchu 5i' oXiycoi/ 
eTxe, (Trdcrw re yev'>]de7(jau iv ry ©77- 
jSaiSi Si« rovs (p6povs iv ßpax^'^ Kar- 
eXvcreu. At all events Valerius Lar- 
gus, formerly the confidential friend 
of Grallus, made these suspicious cir- 
cumstances the ground of an accusa- 



Scene I.] 



Js^OCTURXAL RETUEN. 



a man received and envied in the higher circles of the 
Roman world as the friend ?tnd favourite of Augustus, but 
secretly hated by them ; for though not ashamed of slavishly 
cringing to the mighty despot, they looked haughtily on 
the exalted plebeian. He was, however, among the friends 
of the soberer as well as brighter Muses, universally prized 
as a man of much learning, and celebrated as a graceful 



tion against him, and in consequence 
Angiistus forbad Gallus visiting his 
house, or remaining in his provinces. 
(Suet. Aug. 47, Claud. 23.) Imme- 
diately after his disgrace, numerous 
other accusers appeared, who suc- 
ceeded in getting him exiled and his 
property confiscated. Gallus could 
not endui'e his fall, and killed him- 
self with his sword. This account 
agrees with that of Suet. Aug. QQ. 
Neque enim temere ex omni numero 
in amicitia ejus afflicti rejoerienticr, 
prcster Salvidienum Bufum, quern ad 
considaticm usque, et Cornelium Gal- 
ium, quern ad prcBfecturam Mgypti, 
ex infima titrumque fortuna 'pro- 
vexerat. Qicorum alterum res novas 
molientem damnandwni senatui tra- 
didit, alteri ob ingratum et malevo- 
lum animum domum et provineiis 
suis interdixit. Scd Gallo quoque 
et accusatorum denunciationibus et 
senatus-considtis ad necem compidso 
laudavit quidem jpietatem tantopere 
pro se indignantiuvi : cceterum et 
illacrimavit et vicem steam conquestus 
est, quod sibi soli non liceret amicis, 
quaienus vellet, irasci. 

That his highly treasonable 
speeches against Augustus were the 
principal cause of his condemnation 
is proved by Ovid, Trist, ii. 445 : 
Nee f nit opprobrio celebrasseLyccridaGallo, 

Sed linguam nimio non tenuisse mero ; 
and Amor. iii. 9, 63 : 
Tu quoqne, si falsam est temerati crimen 

amici, 
Sanguinis utque anim£e, prodige Galle, tuae. 



Ammian. Marc. xvii. 4, brings a more 
severe charge against him : Longe 
auteon postea Corn. Gallus, Octa- 
viano res tenente Romanas, Mgypti 
procurator, exJiausit civitatem (The- 
hsis) plurimis interceptis, reversusque 
cmn furtorum accusaretur et popu- 
lates provincicB, stricto incubuit ftrro. 
But it is mentioned neither by Sue- 
tonius, Dio Cassius, nor 0\-id, as the 
cause of his disgrace ; and that Gallus 
ten years before, at least, was neither 
a violent nor a dishonest man, the 
friendship of Virgil, who inscribed 
his tenth Eclogue to him, testifies : 

Pauca meo Gallo, sed quse legat ipsa Ly- 

coris, 
Carmina sunt dicenda : neget quis carinina 

Gallo ? 

The contempt too with which Largus 
was treated, and the regret of Au- 
gustus, show that he had not deserved 
such a fate. Donat. relates, Vit. 
Virg. X. 39, Verum usque adeo hunc 
Galium Virgil ius amarat,td quartus 
Georgicormn a medio usque ad finem 
ejus latcdem contineret. Quern postea, 
jubente Augusto, in Aristai fabidam 
conwmtavit. But this proves less 
the guilt of Gallus, than that the 
recollection of his end was painful to 
Augustus. His passion for Lycoris 
arose about nine or ten years before 
his death, and the circumstance of 
his renewing the connexion with her, 
after her infidelity, is, like other in- 
cidents, imaginary. 



8 



GALLUS. 



[Scene I. 



and elegant poet; while in the more select convivial circle 
he was beloved as a cheerful companion, who always said 
the best of good things, and whose presence gave to the 
banquet more animation than dancers and cliorauloe. Not- 
withstanding the renowned name he had taken, he had 
in reality no claim to the glorious family reminiscences 
which it suggested. The trophies indicative of former 
triumphs which decked the door and door-posts^ of his 
mansion, were the unalienable adjuncts of the house itself ; 
earnest mementos of a glorious past, and serving as an 
admonition to each occupier, what his aim must be, would 
he avoid the humiliating feelinsf of living;' undistincruished 
in the habitation of renown. His grandfather had arrived 
a stranger in Eome, a little before the reign of terror, 
when Caius Marius and L. Cornelius Cinna profited by 
the absence of the most powerful man of the time^ to effect 
a reaction, the ephemeral success of which only served to 
prepare more securely the way to fame for the ambitious 
Sylla. It was through Cinna himself that Grallus obtained 
the right of a citizen, and in conformity with the custom 
of the period he adopted the Cornelian name, along with 
the surname^^ which denoted his extraction. But the hor- 
rors of Sylla's proscriptions drove him from Eome, and 
he returned to Gaul, where he had since been residing in 



^ The Triumphator was permit- 
ted to suspend the spoilia at his door. 
Liv. X. 7, xxxviii. 43. These marks 
of Taloiir achieved, remained as the 
unalienable property of the house 
which they had first rendered ilhis- 
trious, and could not, even in case of 
sale, be taken down. Plin. xxxv. 2 ; 
Alice f oris et circa limina animorum 
ingentium imagines eraoit, affixis Jios- 
tium spoliis, quce nee emtori refigere 
liceret ; triumphahantque etiam do- 
minis mutatis ijpsce domus, et erat 
hmc stimulatio ingens, exjprobantibus 
tectis, quotidie imbellem dominum 



intrare in alienum trium'plium. Cic. 
mil. ii. 28. 

*" The custom by which the 
stranger assumed the name of him, 
through whom he obtained the right 
of a citizen, is generally known. 
Cic. ad Fam. xiii. 36. Cum Deme- 
trio Mega mihi vetustum hospitium 
est ; familiaritas autem tanta, quanta 
cum Siculo nullo. Ei (Cornelius) 
Boldbella rogatu meo civitatem a 
CcBsare impetravit, qua in re ego 
interfui. Itaque nu7ic P. Cornelius 
vocatur. 



Scene I.] XOCTUEXAL EETüRX. 9 

ignoble obscurity at Forum Julii. There Gralius passed 
the first years of his childhood, under the careful auspices 
of his father, who saw in the happy disposition and lofty 
spirit of his boy the harbingers of no ordinary future. 
Therefore, although he could not be accounted wealthy, he 
determined to make ever}^ sacrifice in order to give his 
son such an education as usually fell to the lot of the 
sons of senators and knights. 

When the boy had been instructed in the first elements 
of knowledge by an accomplished Greek tutor, his father 
set out with Gralius for Eome, and after carefully search- 
ing for a suitable person, placed him under the tuition of a 
grammarian of great repute. Gralius subsequently attended 
the school of a celebrated rhetorician, and also took les- 
sons in Latin eloctition, which had lately become some- 
what fashionable ; nor was he allowed to intermit those 
studies even after he had passed the threshold of boyhood 
and put on the toga, the symbol of riper years. At the 
age of twenty he was sent to Athens, even at this period 
the nurse of all the profound and elegant sciences, in order 
to give a finish to his education, and to combine in him 
Attic elegance with Eoman solidity. 

Gralius was still at Athens, when the faithful Chresimus 
brought him the news of the death of his father, who after 
accomplishing his grand object, the education of his sod, 
had returned to Forum Julii. He wept tears of love and 
gratitude with the true-hearted Chresimus, and left Athens 
to take possession of the small patrimony bequeathed him 
by his father, and which he found much more insignificant 
than he had supposed. There was just enough for him to 
live on with tolerable comfort in a provincial town, but it 
would only keep him like a beggar in Eome ; nevertheless 
he resolved to seek his fortune in the focus of the world, 
and a year later returned to Eome, a powerful, resolute, 
and highly-educated man. 

There the terrific scenes of the second triumvirate 
were not long over, and the republicans, driven from Italy, 



10 GALLUS. [Scene f. 

were preparing beyond the sea for the final struggle. 
There were only two parties to choose from, and Grallus 
did not long hesitate which to espouse. It was not any 
particular inclination to the ambiguous Octavianus, still 
less to either of the other potentates, that determined him 
to take up arms for the cause of the triumvirate. He was 
convinced that the time had arrived, when the crumbling 
edifice of the republic must be annihilated, and the am- 
bition of a selfish aristocracy kept down by the mighty 
energies of one supreme ruler. Perhaps, too, he was 
actuated by the hope that his merits were more likely to 
be appreciated, and meet with proper acknowledgment 
from one raised above the petty consideration of rivalry, 
than from the haughty patricians, who were accustomed to 
look down upon merit striving to emerge from obscurity. 

He first took part in the campaign against Sextus 
Pompeius, under the command of Salvidienus. His gal- 
lantry and fortitude at the unlucky sea-fight, which took 
place not far from the destructive rocks of Scylhi, did not 
fail to attract the eye of Octavianus, \vhom he soon after 
followed to the decisive battle of Philippi. There, too, 
his warlike deeds were adorned with fresh laurels, and in 
returning with the victor back to Italy, his social qualities 
soon made him the agreeable companion, and before long, 
the intimate friend, of Octavianus, — a friendship which he 
had tact enough to keep up. The proper hours of re- 
laxation he spent in familiar intercourse with Virgil, the 
younger Proper tins, and other congenially-minded friends 
of the Muses ; but he by no means neglected the more 
grave occupations to which his distinguished oratorical 
powers called him. 

The war against Antony and Cleopatra summoned him 
again into the field, and now commenced the most brilliant 
period of his life. The able manner in which he took and 
held the important seaport, Parsetonium, the destruction 
of the hostile fleet, and many other spirited exploits, raised 
him so high in the estimation of Octavianus, that when 



Scene I.] NOCTURNAL RETURK 11 

Antony and Cleopatra atoned for their long intoxication of 
pleasure and folly by voluntary death, and Egypt was 
enrolled among the number of Roman provinces, he, being 
in the undivided possession of the supreme authority, 
made Gallus governor of the new province, under the title 
of Prefect. The command of so rich a province could, 
Octavianus doubtless thought, with more safety be en- 
trusted to him than to a senator. 

Was it wonderful, theu, that when G-allus found him- 
self suddenly placed at so great an elevation, his sanguine 
and fiery disposition carried him occasionally beyond the 
bounds of moderation, and that, — after severely chastising 
the rebellious cities, especially the w^ondrous Thebes, — he 
caused statues of himself to be erected, and the record of 
his deeds to be eu graved on the pyramids ? Was there 
anything unusual in his carrying off the treasures and 
valuables of the subjugated cities, as a fit recompense for 
his exertions ? 

Octavianus, who had now assumed the more noble 
name of Augustus, heard the report of these acts with 
a concern, v/hich the enemies, whom the good fortune of 
Grallus had raised up against him, did not fail to foment. 
So without being actually angered with his former friend, 
he recalled him to Eome, and nominated Petronius, a man 
by no means well-disposed towards him, as his successor. 

G-allus was not pleased with his recall, although it had 
been made in such a manner, as in a great measure to 
efface its unpleasantness. The riches which had followed 
him from Egypt to Rome, enabled him to live with a 
magnificence hitherto quite unknov/n to him, aud in the 
superabundance of such enjoyments as served to heighten 
the pleasures of life. Still accounted the favourite of Au- 
gustus, and always admitted as a welcome guest to the 
select circle that had access to the table of this mighty 
sovereign, he now saw people, who, ten years before, 
vv^ould scarcely have deigned to acknowledge his saluta- 
tion, vying with each other to gain his friendship. 



12 GALLUS. [Scene T. 

Although Grallus was advancing to that period of life 
when the Eoman was considered no longer a youth, he 
had not yet prevailed upon himself to throw constraint 
on the freedom of his existence, by entering the bonds 
of matrimony. Indeed, the stricter forms of marriage 
began generally to be less liked; and no law inflicting 
a -penalty on celibacy had at that time been passed. 
At an earlier period of his life, the narrowness of his 
circumstances had led him to look with shyness on mar- 
riage, in consequence of the expenses attendant on such 
an increased establishment as the grand notions of the 
Eoman ladies would have rendered unavoidable. He also 
even more dreaded the state of dependence into which he 
would have been thrown, if he had married a person of 
fortune; and being at the same time averse to concu- 
binage, had preferred contracting an intimacy of a less 
durable nature with certain accomplished Hetairai, who 
were capable not only of admitting, but also of returning 
his passion. 

Thus, after his return, he contiliued to pursue an un- 
fettered course of life, regulated by his own inclinations 
alone ; a life which others much envied, and which would 
have been a happy one, had it not been for his impetuous 
and passionately excitable temperament, and unsparing- 
freedom of speech, especially in his cups. These causes 
were beginning to throw a cloud over his future prospects ; 
for, although raised by Augustus from the depths of 
poverty to honour and wealth, he had nevertheless too 
much straightforwardness not to express frequently his loud 
disapprobation of many arbitrary proceedings and secret 
cruelties, perpetrated by his benefactor. Clandestine envy, 
which was busy about him, had dexterously profited by 
these speeches, and there was even talk of a complaint 
secretly lodged against him by his former friend and 
confidant, Largus, on the score of misgovernment in 
Egypt. At all events, G-allus could not conceal from 
himself, that for some time past a coolness had pervaded 



Scene I.] 



IS^OCTURNAL EETURN 



13 



Augustus' manner towards him, and that his former inti- 
mate familiarity had been succeeded by a tone of haughty 
and suspicious reserve. 

But although his present position would have enabled 
Grallus to regard this alteration with indifference, still his 
estimation among the higher circles of Eome depended 
too much on the favour of Aumistus for him to neojlect 
using all his endeavours to remain, at any rate in outward 
appearance, in possession of the emperor's good graces. It 
was for this reason that he had this evening been supping 
at the imperial board, without invitation, as he had always 
been accustomed to do ; but he had found Augustus in a 
worse humour than ever, and among the company his bitter 
enemy, Largus. Some caustic remarks touching the fate 
of Thebes, drew forth from the irritable Grallus an acrimo- 
nious retort, which Augustus replied to with still greater 
severity. As soon therefore as the latter had withdrawn^ ^, 
according to his custom, Gallus also departed, to spend 
the evening more agreeably in the company of Pomponius 
and other friends. 



" Suet. Aug. 74, Convivia non- 
nunquam et serius inibat et maturius 
rel'wquebat, cum convives et coenare 



incipcrent, priusquam Ule discum- 
beret, et permanerent digresso eo. 



SCENE THE SECOND. 



THE MOENING. 



THE city hills were as yet unillumined by the beams of 
the morning sun, and the uncertain twilight, which the 
saffron streaks in the east spread as harbingers of the 
coming day, was diffused but sparingly through the windows 
and courts into the apartments of the mansion. Grallus still 
lay buried in heavy sleep in his quiet chamber, the care- 
fully chosen position of which both protected him against 
all disturbing noises, and prevented the earl}^ salute of the 
morning light from too soon breaking his repose \ But 
around all was life and activity. From the cells and cham- 
bers below, and the apartments on the upper floor, there 
poured a swarming multitude of slaves, who presently 
pervaded every corner of the house, hurrying to and 
fro, and cleaning and arranging with such busy alacrity, 
that one unacquainted with these customary movements, 
would have supposed that some grand festivity was at 
hand. A whole decuria of house-slaves, armed with be- 
soms and sponges, under the superintendence of the 
atriensis, began to clean the entrance rooms. Some in- 
spected the vesfÄbulum, to see whether any bold spider 
had spun its net during the night on the capital of tlie 
pillars, or groups of statuary; and rubbed the gold and 
tortoise-shell ornaments of the folding-doors and posts at 



' One thing that the Komans 
especially kept in view in planning 
their sleeping-apartments, was that 
their situation should he removed 
from all noise. Pliny, Ep. ii. 17, 
boasts of these qualities being pos- 
sessed by a bed-chamber at his 
villa. Junctum est cuhiculum noctis 
et somni. l^on illud voces servulo- 



rum, non maris murmur, nan tem- 
'pesiatum motus, non fulgurum lu- 
men, ac ne diem quidem sentit, nisi 
fenestris apertis. Tarn alti ahditi- 
que secreti ilia ratio, quod inter jacens 
andron parictem cubiculi hortique 
distinguit, atque ita omnem sonum 
media inanitate consumit. 



Scene II.] 



MOENING. 



15 



the entrance, and cleaned tlie dust of the previous day 
from the marble pavement. Others again were busy 
in the atriwrn and its adjacent halls^ carefully traversing 
the mosaic floor, and the paintings on the walls, with 
soft Lycian sponges, lest any dust might have settled on 
the wax-varnish with which they were covered ^. They also 
looked closely whether any spot appeared blackened by the 
smoke of the lamps ; and then decked with fresh garlands^ 
the busts and shields which supplied the place of the ima- 
gines inajorum ^, or waxen masks of departed ancestors. 



2 Many of tlie colours -used by i 
the ancients for wall-painting, as, for ' 
instance, the minium, conld not stand 
the effects of the light and atmo- 
sphere, and, to make them durable, a 
varnish of Punic wax, mixed with a 
little oil, was laid on the wall, when 
dry, with a paint-brush of bristles. 
See Vitruv. yii. 9, and Plin. xxxiii. 
7, 40. 

^ Although the stemmata, which 
constituted the ancestral tree, could 
find no application here, still it was 
not unusual to crown with chaplets, 
even the portraits of strangers. Mart. 
X. 32 : 

Hs3c mihi quse colitur violis pictura rosis- 
que, 
Quos referat vultus, Caeditiane, rogas ? 

* The beautiful custom of olden 
time of placing the imagines majo- 
rum in the atria or their al(B, must 
have lost more and more in signifi- 
cancy, and even grown obsolete, after 
so many who had neither majores, in 
that sense, nor any title whatever to 
such distinction — some of them being 
persons of the lowest class, and others 
even slaves — became very wealthy, 
assumed high-sounding names, and 
lived in magnificent edifices. And 
again, many who were entitled to 
imagines, found them, perhaps, too 



insignificant in appearance to consort 
with the magnificence of the rest of 
their dwelling. These imagines were 
waxen masks, formed after the life, 
cer(B, which those only had the right 
of setting up, who had borne a curule 
ofiice,viz. from "CaaXoicBdile upwards. 
Polyb. vi. 53. On the manner of 
arranging them, Vitruv. says, vi. o, 
Imagines item alte cum suis orna- 
onentis ad latitudinem alarum sint 
constitute. The ornamenta are clear- 
ly designated by Seneca, De Benef. 
iii. 28, Qui imagines in atria expo- 
nunt et nomina familice sues longo 
ordine ac multis stemmatum illigata 
flexuris in -parte prima mdium collo- 
cant, noti magis quam nobile sunt. 
Still more so by Plin. xxxv. 2, 2, Ex- 
pressi cera vultus singulis disponc- 
hantur armariis. — Stemmata vero li- 
neis discurrehant ad imagines pictas. 
Polyb. vi. 53 : HwAtj'a paidia vepni- 
devres : and, ravras St) ras elKSuas 
eV TcTs SrjfJLOTeAecri Ovaiais avoiyov- 
T€? KGa/xoicri (piXdrijxoiis : lastlv, 
Auct. Eicg. ad Mess. 30, Quidqitaque 
index sub imagine dicat. The masks 
were kept in little presses, placed up 
against the wall, under which stood 
the name of the deceased, his honours 
and merits, tituli, Ovid. Fast. i. 591. 
[The several imagines were connect- 
ed with each other by garlands ; for 



16 



GALLUS. 



[Scene II. 



In the cavum cedium or interior court, and the larofer 
peristylium, more were engaged in rubbing with coarse 
linen cloths the polished pillars of Tenarian and Numidian 
marble'^, which formed a most pleasing contrast to the 
intervening statues and the fresh green verdure of the 
vacant space within. The Tricliniarch and his subordi- 
nates were equally occupied in the larger saloons : where 
stood the costly tables of cedar-wood, with pillars of ivory 
supporting their massive orbs, which had, at an immense 



Pliny's words, stemmata lineis dis- 
currehant ad imagines 'pictas, do not 
seem capable of any other than the 
literal meaning ; and so likewise the 
stemmatum flexurcB of Seneca.] On 
festive days, when these armaria 
were opened, the imagines received 
fresh crowns oflaiirel. It is evident 
from Pliny, that, at a later period, 
instead of the masks, cly'peat(B imagi- 
nes, as they were called, and busts 
were substituted. Imaginum qui- 
dem. picticra, qua maxime similes in 
(Bvum propagabantur figures, in fo- 
tum exolevit. Mrei ponuntur clypei, 
argentcB fades surdo figurarum dis- 
crimine. Again : Aliter apud ma- 
jores in atriis lime er ant qiice specta- 
rentur, non signa 'externorum artifi- 
cum, nee cera nee marmora ; expressi 
cera vultus, &c. Those persons who 
had no images to boast of in their 
own family, and yet wished some such 
ornament for their atrium, had no 
course left but alienas effigies colere. 

^ The most valuably species of 
white marbles were the Parian, 
the Tentelican, and the Hymet- 
tian; which latter two Böttiger 
mistakes for the same. Strabo 
expressly says fxapixäpov S' eVrl 
Tr]s re 'TjUrjTr/a? Kol rrjS UsvTeXi- 
KTjS KaWiffra fieraWa ■kX7](Tlov rris 
TToAeus. Horn. Od. ii. 18, 3 ; Plin. 



H. N. xxxvi. 3. If it be correctly 
supposed, as was first imagined from 
Pausanias, that Pentelicus was in 
early times comprehended under 
the name Hymettus, we must un- 
derstand Pentelican marble by the 
Hymettiis columnis trabibus so fre- 
quently mentioned, especially by the 
poets. Besides these there was that 
of Luna in Italy, now called Carrara 
marble. 

Variegated marbles {marmor ma- 
cidosum, Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 5; in- 
gentium macxdcB columnarum, Sen. 
Ep. 115), brought not only from 
Greece, but even from Asia and 
Africa, became afterwards more fa- 
shionable. The most precious sorts 
were the golden -yellow, Numidian ; 
that with red streaks, Phrygian, Syn- 
nadic, or Mygdonian ; the Teenarian, 
or Laconian, or verde antico, a kind 
of green porphyry ; and the Carys- 
tian (from Euboea) with green veins. 
But even this natural variety was not 
sufficient for the demands of taste. 
In Nero's time veins and spots were 
artificially let into the coloured mar- 
ble. So says Pliny, xxxv. 1 : Nero- 
nis (principatu inventum) maculas, 
qucs non essent, crustis inserendo 
unitatem variare, ut ovatus esset 
Numidicus, ut purpura distinguere- 
tur Synnadicus, qualiter illos nasci 
aptarent delicice. 



Scene IL] 



MOEXING. 



17 



expense, been conveyed to Eome from the primeval woods 
of Atlas. In one the wood was like the beautifully dappled 
coat of a panther, in another the spots, being more regular 
and close, imitated the tail of the peacock, a third re- 
sembled the luxuriant and tangled leaves of the apiuon, 
each of them more beautiful and valuable than the other ; 
and many a lover of splendour would have bartered an 
estate for any one of the three. The tricliniarii cau- 
tiously lifted up their purple covers, and then whisked 
them over with the shaggy gausape, in order to remove 
any little dust that might have penetrated through. Xext 
came the side-boards, several of which stood against 
the walls in each saloon, for the purpose of displaying 
the gold and silver plate and other valuables. Some 
of them were slabs of marble, supported by silver or 
gilded ram's feet, or by the tips of the wings of two 
griffins looking in opposite directions. There was also one 
of artificial marble, which had been sawn out of the wall 
of a G-recian temple, while the slabs of the rest were of 
precious metal. The costly articles displayed on each 
were so selected as to be in keeping with the architec- 
tural designs of the apartment. In the tetrastylus, the 
simplest saloon, stood smooth silver vessels unadorned 
by the ars toreutica, except that the rims of most of 
the larger bowls were of gold. Between these were 
smaller vessels of amber, and two of great rarity; in 
one of which a bee, and in the other an ant, had found 
its transparent tomb. On another side stood beakers 
of antique form, 'to which the names of their former 
possessors gave their value, and an historical importance ^. 



" The passion for collecting ob- 
jects curious on account of their an- 
tiquity, or from having belonged to 
some illustrious person, had become 
prevalent in the time of Gallus ; 
V. Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 21 ; 64. p. 3, 90 ; 
at all events it was not far off. 
This mania became still more 



ridiculous, when ignorance credited 
the grossest falsehoods and histo- 
rical impossibilities. The instances 
we have mentioned are really re- 
coimted by Martial, viii. 6, who 
ridicules these argenti fianosa stcm- 
raata. The archetypa of Trimalchio 
are still more laughable. Petr. 52, 



18 



GALLUS. 



[Scene II. 



There was, for instance, a double cup, whicli Priam had 
inherited from Laomedon ; another that had belonged to 
Nestor, unquestionably the same from which Hecamede 
had pledged the old man in Pramnian wine before Troy : 
the doves which formed the handles^ were much worn, 
— of course by Nestor's hand. Another again was the 
gift of Dido to JEneas, and in the centre stood an im- 
mense bowl, which Theseus had hurled against the face 
of Eurytus. But the most remarkable of all was a relic 
of the keel of the Argo ^ ; it was indeed only a chip, but 
who could look on and touch this portion of the mostancient 
of ships — on which perhaps even Minerva herself had 
placed her hand — without being transported in feeling 
back to the days of old. Gallus himself was far too en- 
lightened to believe in the truth of these legends, but every 
one was not so free from prejudice as he; it was more- 
over the most recent fashion to collect such antiquities. 

On the other hand, in the Corinthian saloon stood 
vessels of precious Corinthian bronze, whose worn handles 
and peculiar smell sufficiently announced their antiquity, 
together with two large golden drinking cups, on one of 
which were engraved scenes from the Iliad, on the other 
from the Odyssey^. Besides these there were smaller 



Habeo scyphos urnales plus minus, 
quemadonodum Cassandra occiditfilios 
siios, et pueri mortui jacentsicutivere 
2nites. Habeo cajpidem quam reliquit 
Patroclo Prometheus, uhi Bmdalus 
Niohem in equum Trojanum includit. 
V. Lueian. PMlop. 19. 

'' ßiad, xi. 632, seq. Martial, or 
the possessor of the goblet, no doubt 
had in his eye the passage of Homer 
which runs : AolclI 5e TreAetc^Ses dfxcpls 
%Ka(TTov xP'^ö'^"^' vefj.46ovTo: and the 
Roman poet says: Pollice de Pylio 
trita columha nitet. 

^ The ancients also had their 
relics, and looked with veneration on 



a chip of the Argo. Martial, who is 
so fond of ridiculing folly and credu- 
lous simplicity, speaks quite seriously 
(vii. 19) on the subject: 

Fragmentum quod vile putas et inutile lig- 
num, 

Hffic f uit ignoti prima carina maris. — 
SaBcula vicerunt; set! quamvis cesserit annis, 

Sanctior est salva parva tabella rate. 

But perhaps this valuable relic be- 
longed to Domitian himself, or to 
some other patron of distinction, and 
the poet for this reason ajffected to 
credit the story. The ancients used 
also to collect natural specimens and 
other rarities. 

^ The Corinthian brass, as it was 
called, was used in the manufacture 



Scene II.] 



MOEXING. 



19 



beakers and bowls composed of precious stones, either 
made of one piece only, and adorned with reliefs, or of 
several cameos united by settings of gold. G-enuine 
Murrbina vases also, — even at that time a riddle,' and 
according to report imported from the recesses of Par- 
thia, — were not wanting. 

The Egyptian saloon, however, surpassed the rest in 
magnificence. Every silver or golden vessel which it con- 
tained was made by the most celebrated toreutce^ and 
possessed a higher value from the beauty of its work- 
manship than even from the costliness of its materiaP^. 
There was a cup by the hand of Phidias, ornamented 
with fishes that seemed only to want water to enable 
them to swim; on another w^as a lizard by Mentor, and 
so exact a copy of nature, that the hand almost started 
back on touching it. Then came a broad bowl, the handle 
of which was a ram wüth a golden fleece, more beautiful 
than that brought by Phryxus to Colchis, and upon it 



of vessels which, were sold for high 
prices. Eespecting the composition 
of it, a secret which was lost even in 
the time of the ancients, see 0. 
Miiller's ArchcBology, translated by 
Leitch; and Plin. xxxiv. 2, 3, and 
Petron. 50, jokingly. Connoisseurs 
detected its genuineness by the pe- 
culiar odour it acquired by Oxydation. 
Mart. ix. 60, 11. Consulerit nates, 
an olerent mra Corinthon. Beckmann 
even affirms thatthe money-changers 
had recourse to their noses to judge 
of the genuineness of the coins, as 
Arrian, in Epict. i. 20, o apyvpoyvu- 
jjLwv 7rpo(rxp>?Tai Kara ^oKifxaaiav rov 
voixlcTjxaTOS rfj o\|/et, rfj acprj, t? 
ö(r(l)paaia (but apyvpoyvwixccu is not 
a money-changer). The marks more- 
over of having been long in use, were 
not imobserved. Mart. ix. 58: 

Nil est tristius Heclyli lacemis : 
Non ansae veterum Corintliiorum. 

"• The most celebrated Toreut?e, 



Mys, Myron, Mentor, and even Phi- 
dias, had often to lend their names 
to the relievos cut on the vessels, 
though not always with any good 
reason for so doing. Mart. : 

iii. 35. Artis PMcTiacas toreuma darum, 
Pisces adspicis : adele aqiiam, na- 
tabunt. 
iii. 41. Inserta phialte Meutoris manu 
ducta 
Lacerta vivit, et timetur argen- 
tum. 
vi. 92. Ceelatus serpens in patera My- 

ronis arte. 
viii. 51. Quis labor in pbiala ? docti Slyos, 
anne Myronis ? 
Mentoiis bfec manus est? an, 

Polyclete, tua? 
Stat caper ^olio Thebani vellere 

Phryxi 
Cultus : ab hoc mallet vecta 
fuisse soror. 

Goblets by Mentor, who also imi- 
tated in metal the joocula Theridea, 
were very highly esteemed. Plin. 
xxxiii. 11, 12. 



c 2 



20 GALLUS. [Scene IL 

a dainty Cupid. The name of the artist who executed it 
was unknown, but all were unanimous in thinking that 
M3^s and Myron, Mentor and Polycletus, had equal claims 
to the honour. No less worthy of admiration were the 
ingenious works in glass^ from Alexandria; beakers and 
saucers of superb moulding, and imitating so naturally 
the tints of the amethyst and ruby, as completely to 
deceive the beholder ; others shone like onyxes, and 
were cut in relief; but superior to all were some of 
the purest crystal, and uncoloured. Still there was one 
object which, on account of its ingenious construction, 
attracted more than anything else the eyes of all spec- 
tators. This was a bowl of the colour of opal, surrounded 
at the distance of a fourth part of an inch by an azure 
network, carved out of the same piece as the vessel, 
arid only connected with it by a few fine slips that had 
been left. Beneath the edge of the cup was written 
the following inscription ; the letters were green, and 
projected in a similar manner, supported only by some 
delicate props : Bibe, vivas onultis aiinis. How many 
disappointments must the artist have experienced before 
he accomplished the labour of making such a vessel, and 
what a price must Grallus have paid for it ! 

In the Cyzicenian saloon no such ornaments were to 
be seen; but the slaves had more work in cleaning the 
windows and window-frames which reached to the ground, 
and in preventing the view from being obscured by dull 
spots in the glass. 

Whilst the mansion was being thus cleansed and 
adorned throughout, whilst the disjpensator was busied 
in recasting the account of the receipts and expenditure 
during the last month, to be ready for his master's in- 
spection, and the cellarius was reviewing his stock, and 
considering how much would supply the exigencies of 
the day, and the superior slaves were engaged, each 
with his allotted task — the vestibulum had already begun 
to be filled with a multitude of visitors, who came to 



Scene IL] MOEXIXG. 21 

pay their customary morning salutation to their patron. 
The persons who presented themselves differed not only 
in their grades, but also in the motives of their attend- 
ance^ ^ Citizens of the inferior class, who received sup- 
port from the hand of Gallus ; young men of family, who 
expected to make their fortunes through the favourite of 
Augustus ; poor poets and idlers, who looked to a com- 
pensation for these early attentions, by a place at the 
board of Grallus, or contented themselves with a share of 
the diurnal sportula ; a few friends really attached to him 
by gratitude or affection. Amongst the number were, no 
doubt, some vain fellows, who felt so flattered at having 
admission to a house of distinction, that they disregarded 
the inconvenience of dancing attendance thus early before 
the door of their dominus or rex, and waited impatiently 
for the moment when they were to be admitted. For this 
was not the only visit of the kind they intended to pay this 
morning; and there were some even with whom this made 
the second or third door visited already. As soon therefore 
as the ostiarius let them in, each one pressed forward to the 
atrium, or became lost to view in the colonnades, beguiling 
the interval with gazing about them, and conversing with 
one another. 

Meamvhile G-allus had risen from his couch, though 
later than he usually did : he was not however inclined to 
receive the crowd of visitors, about whom he was perfectly 
indifferent. Accordingly the nomenclator, who had already 
arranged the order of those who were to be introduced, was 
instructed to say that bis lord was indisposed, and would 
not make his appearance to-day. At the same time he 
was ordered, if Pomponius, or any other intimate friends 
should call, to admit them into the cuhiculuin; but all 
other visits were to be declined. 



" On the subjects of Salutatio and Sportida, see the foiirth Excursus on 
the First Scene. 



99 



GALL US. 



[Scene II. 



The throng had long taken its departure, when to- 
wards the end of the second hour of the day Pomponius 
arrived. He was a man near upon forty : his hollow but 
gleaming eye, his pale and sunken cheeks, the half sensual, 
half scornful expression about his mouth, as well as the 
negligent folds of his voluminous toga, at once pointed 
him out as one of those dissipated men, who are accus- 
tomed to riot all night in wild revelry and forbidden 
gambling-, or in the oroies of the Subura, Althouo'h of 
distinguished parentage, and left heir to a fortune of nearly 
two millions of sesterces^ usurers and harlots had long since 
sung the dirge of his patrimony ^^. Instead of his parental 
mansion, he now inhabited a lodging near the Tiber, hired 
for three thousand sesterces^ while his attendants were 
limited to a few shabby slaves. Household stores he had 
none : his bread, and wine fresh from the vat, were brought 
from the nearest tavern ^^ Notwithstanding, however, he 
possessed sufficient wit and intelligence to make him wel- 
come even in the best circles. An adept in every kind of 
amusement, ever ready to enter into any jovial scheme, 
and fully acquainted with the ways and means of insuring 
its success ; unequalled, besides, as a director of a feast, 
and a perfect connoisseur in wines and dishes, he managed 
to make people forget the less recommendatory points in 
his character, and (which was an enigma to many) was 
not excluded from the table even of Augustus. He had, 
in like manner, by his pleasantry and merry disposition, 
and by a thousand little kindnesses, and, as it seemed too, 
by some more important tokens of genuine friendship, 
contrived to become indispensable to the freeliving Grallus. 
It is true that the cautious Chresimus was not the only 



'2 Thus Plautiis, True. ii. 1, 3, 
says : Huic homini amanti mea hera 
ajpiul nos dixit ncBniam de bonis. 

^^ The description is borrowed 
from Cic. in Pis. 27. 3000 HS. or 



24:1. was the rent paid also by 
Sulla, before he arrived at wealth and 
power. Plut. Sulla, 1. For more 
about the price of hired lodgings, 
and the houses themselves, see Mei- 
erotto, ii. p. 104, seqc[. 



Scene IL] MORMJS-G. 23 

one who shook his head at this : and some affirmed, that 
before the recall of Grallus to Eome, Pomponius had lived 
in familiar intercourse with Lycoris^ and that he had sworn 
to effect the downfall of the former in revenge for being 
supplanted by him. It was certain that he had of late 
been a most intimate associate of Largus, from whom it 
was surmised that he received considerable pecuniary aid. 
On the other hand, Pomponius had himself concerted 
measures with Grallus for gaining the confidence of his most 
dangerous foe, and thus becoming apprised of any peril 
that might threaten him, and had moreover frequently 
warned him about the other's plans. How then could 
Grallus consider the cautions which reached him as any 
thing else than empty fears and calumnies ? 

Two other men had entered at the same time as 
Pomponius, so different in manner, thoughts, and actions, 
that it required all the versatility with which their companion 
was gifted to fill up the chasm between them. Lentulus, 
young, vain, and wealthy, was the exact prototype of those 
well-dressed, self-sufficient, shallow young men of our own 
day, so graphically described by a modern French author, 
as being helles bourses cVetalage : qiCy a-t-il au fond f 
du vide^^. No one dressed with more care, or arranged 
his hair in more elegant locks, or diffused around him such 
a scent of cassia and stakte, nard and balsam. No one 
was better acquainted with the latest news of the city : — 
who were betrothed yesterday, who was Caius' newest 
mistress, why Titus had procured a divorce, on whom 
Neaera had closed her doors. The whole business of his 
day consisted in philandering about the toilets of the 
ladies, or strolling through the colonnades of Pompeius, or 
the almost completed Septa, humming Alexandrian or 
Graditanian songs, or, at most, in reading or writing a love 
epistle : in short, he was a complete specimen of what the 



L. Desnoyers, Lcs Btotiens de Paris, Livre des Cent et un, ili. p. 61. 



24 



GALLUS. 



[SCEXE II. 



Eomans contemptuously called hellus liomio^^. It can be 
easily imagined that Grallus was not very anxious for ihh 
society of such a person ; but Pomponius saw only that 
Lentulus was rich, that few gave . better dinners, and be- 
sides, he liked his folly, which often served as a butt for 
his own wit and sarcasms. 

What a strong contrast to this smooth coxcomb was 
Calpurnius ! whose lofty stature and manly bearing, free 
alike from stiffness and negligence, commanded respect; 
while the simple throw and scanty gatherings of his toga., 
in the highly drawn up sinus of which his right arm rested, 
reminded one of the orators of the republic. In his dark 
eyes, overshadowed by lofty brows, there glowed a tran- 
quil fire, and if you watched at the same time the earnest 
folds of his forehead and the bitter curl of his lips, you 
almost believed that you saw before you one who had 
fallen out with fate, or meditated revenge. 

' Welcome, friends I ' cried Gallus, as they entered the 
peristyle, where according to custom he was enjoying the 
fresh morning air. ' And you too, Lentulus ? What, are you 
not afraid lest the dampness of the morning air should 
destroy the ingenious edifice of 3^our locks ? ' 

'Joke away!' replied Lentulus, 'who knows whether 
I live not happier under it than ye do in many a new 
state fabric, built only in your thoughts ? But enough 
of that. I will leave you directly to your momentous 
consultations, and only come now to propose that we 
should not breakfast with you to-day, as we agreed yes- 



^^ Such a bellus homo Martial ad- 
mirably describes, iii. 63 : 

Bellus homo est, flexos qui digerit ordine 
crines : 
Balsama qui semper, cinnama semper 
olet. 
Cantica qui Nili, qui Gaditana susuiTat ; 

Qui mo vet in varios bracliia vulsamodos. 
Inter fcemineas tota qui luce cathedras 
Desidet,atque aliqua semper in aure sonat. 



Qui legit hinc illinc missas, scribitque ta- 
bellas. 
Pallia vicini qui refugit cubiti. 
Qui seit quam quis amet ; qui percouvivia 
currit ; 
Hirpini veteres qui bene novit avos. 

Well may we say, after casting a 
glance upon the bellies homo of our 
own day, ' Men are now as men ever 
were.' 



Scene IL] 



MOENIIS-G. 



25 



terday, but that you come instead to my house. Not 
merely for the sake of the excellent oysters that I received 
this morning from the Lucrine lake, and the splendid 
rhotnhus sent me yesterday from Kavenna — these would 
at most be an attraction for Pomponius alone — hut for 
the purpose of admiring a work of art of surpassing grace 
and beaut}^ You know Issa, Terentia's lap-dog^ ^ ? I 
have had the little imp painted, sweetly reposing upon a 
soft cushion : it was only finished yesterday, and the illu- 
sion is, I assure you, complete. Place it by the side of 
the delicate little animal, and you will think either that 
both are painted, or both alive.' G-allus laughed loudly at 
this enthusiasm about a lap-dog, and even on the visage of 
Calpurnius a smile gradually got the better of his'habitual 
scowl. ' I believe you, my Lentulus,' replied the first ; 
' and it grieves me to be able neither to make acquaint- 
ance with the Lucrine and Eavennan strangers, nor to 
enjoy the high artistic treat. Cogent reasons induce me 
to spend a few weeks in the country, and I have just 
determined to set off this morning.' 

' Into the country ? To the villa ?' cried Pomponius 
and Calpurnius, in astonishment, whilst Lentulus affectedly 
supported his chin with his left hand. — ' So it is,' said 
G-allus ; ' and I had already ordered my slave to make 
my apologies for not breakfasting with you, and to invite 
you to my villa instead.' 

*Well, well, if such be the case,' said Lentulus, 'I 
have nothing to do, but wish you a pleasant journey 
thither. But I make one condition, that you take your 



*^ The delicicB of the Eonian ladie.s 
are known through the passer of Les- 
bia, and the parrot of Corinna. The 
Issa here mentioned belongs, it is 
true, to a later period, and to no 
lady, but to the painter Publius, who 
had painted her for himself. Mart. i. 
110. The same poet, vii. 87, names 



as such favourite objects, bubo, catel- 
la, cercopithecos, ichneumon, pica, 
draco, luscinia. The lap-dog of the 
lady was naturally an object of tender 
blandishment to the lover. Indeed 
this is enjoined by Clsereta, — Plaut. 
Asin. i. 3, 32. Cf. Mart, xiv.198 ; Juv. 
vi. 654; Petron.64, 71 ; Plin.£)j. iv. 2. 



26 GALLUS. [Scene II. 

first meal at my house after your return. I am only 
sorry that you will not see Issa, for this very day will 
Terentia receive this proof of my affection.' Having thus 
said, he sped away through the halls and atrium, carefully 
avoiding the busy slaves, lest they should soil the snowy 
w^hiteness of his garments, and hastened to arrange the 
breakfast : since Pomponius, at all events, would not forget 
the Lucrine oysters aud the rlioimhus. 

' So to Capua, then ? ' said Pomponius, musingly, after 
the departure of Lentulus, and appearing at the same time 
to be occupied with other thoughts than the recent in- 
vitation. 

^Into the lap of enjoyment and idleness ! ' put in Cal- 
purnius gloomily. 

' And Lycoris ? ' asked Pomponius inquiringly, whilst he 
involuntarily held his nether lip between his teeth. 

' Will grant my request, I hope, and spend these weeks 
in Baise.' 

' And the fine plans of yesterday ? ' interrupted Cal- 
purnius : ' are we children that we swear death to the 
tyrant, and within twelve hours afterwards quietly repose 
on the soft pillow of pleasure and voluptuousness ? ' 

' Calpurnius,' said G-alLus earnestly, ^the incautious ex- 
pressions cajoled from the tongue by the Setinian wine 
must not be interpreted too literally the next morning. 
I have, it is true, been grievously insulted, and by the 
very man from whose hand I received all my fortune ; 
but I will never forget what is due to gratitude, and for 
the same reason, that I feel how easily I can be provoked, 
I will withdraw into the retirement of the countr}?- for a 
while. Virgil and Propertius have already left Rome to 
enjoy the charms of nature, and I too pine for a more 
simple way of life.' 

' G^allus is right,' cried Pomponius, as if awaking from 
a dream, * he is right ;' — while Calpurnius, turning away 
his head, bit his lip. ^ He will thus best show that he 
has no desire to take part in any movement that may 



Scene 1 1. J MORNING, 27 

be made, and he leaves true friends behind him to avert 
any danger that may threaten him in his absence. But 
since the hour of departure is so near, his time must be 
precious, Calpurnius. Let us therefore now depart. Fare- 
well, Grallus ! happy omen be thy speed I ' With this he 
went, forcing the silent Calpurnius away. 



SCENE THE THIED. 



STUDIES AND LETTEES, 



GALLUS had for some time past kept as much as pos- 
sible aloof from the disquieting labours of public life^, 
and had been accustomed to divide his time between the 
pleasures of the table and of love, the societ}^ of friends, 
and the pursuit of his studies, serious as well as cheerfuP. 
On the present occasion also, after his friends had departed, 
he withdrew into the chamber, where he used daily to 
spend the later hours of the morning, in converse with the 
great spirits of ancient Grreece — a pursuit animating and 
refreshing alike to heart and soul — or to yield himself 
up to the sport of his own muse. For this reason, this 
apartment lay far removed from the noisy din of the street, 
so that neither the rattlino^ of the creakino^ wains and 
the stimulating cry of the mule-driver, the clarions and 
dirge of the pompous funeral, nor the brawlings of the 
slaves ^ hurrying busily along, could penetrate it. A lofty 



1 In this description of the mode 
of life to which Grallus, after a long 
continuance of active exertion, had 
resigned himself, reference has been 
principally had to Cic. Fam. ix. 20. 
Omnem nostrmn de repuhlica cur am, 
cogitationem de dicenda in senatu 
sententia, commentationem causa- 
rum ahjecimus. In Epicuri nos ad- 
versarii nostri castra conjecimus. 
No doubt this Epicurism would as- 
sume a different form in Grallus from 
that of Cicero, yet the latter's account 
of his morning occupations might 
very well be transferred to Gallus : 
H(BC igitur est nunc vita nostra. Mane 
,salutatus dond et bonos viros midtos, 
sed tristes, et hos lestos victores, qui 
me quidcm peroßciose et 'per amanter 
observant. Tibi salutatio defluxit. 



Uteris one involve ; aut scribo, aid 
lego. In the retirement of country- 
life (Plin. Ep. ix. 9, 36), there was, 
no doubt, more likelihood of such 
quiet enjoyment than amid the num- 
berless interruptions of the bustling 
metropolis, which Pliny describes, 
Ep. i. 9 : &i quern interroges : Hodie 
quid egistil respondeat: Officio togcB 
virilis interfui, sponsalia aut nuptias 
frequentavi : ille me ad signandum 
testamentum, ille in advocationem, 
ille in consilium rogavit. So also 
Hor. Epist. ii. 2, 65. Even at the 
country house many were subjected 
to the solicitations of their neigh- 
bours. Plin, Ep, ix. 15. 

^ The characteristic bustle of the 
slaves, as they ran along the street, is 



Scene III.] STUDIES AND LETTERS. 29 

window, 'through which shone the light of the early morn- 
ino' sun, pleasantly illuminated from above the moderate- 
sized apartment, the walls of which were adorned with 
elegant arabesques in light colours, whilst between them, 
on darker grounds, the luxurious forms of attractive danc- 
ing girls were seen sweeping spirit-like along. A neat 
couch, faced with tortoise-shell and hung with Babylonian 
tapestry of various colours — by the side of which was the 
scrinium containing the poet's elegies, which were as yet 
unknown to the majority of the public, and a small table 
of cedar-wood, on goat's-feet of bronze, comprised the 
whole of the supellex. 

Immediately adjoining this apartment was the library, 
full of the most precious treasures acquired by Gailus, 
chiefly in Alexandria. There, in presses of cedar-wood, 
placed round the walls, lay the rolls, partly of parch- 
ment, and partly of the finest Egyptian 'papyrus, each 
supplied with a label, on which was seen, in bright red 
letters, the name of the author and title of the book. 
Above these again were ranged the busts, in bronze or 
marble, of the most renowned writers, an entirely novel 
ornament for libraries, first introduced into Eome by Asinius 
Pollio, who perhaps had only copied it from the libraries 
of Pergamus and Alexandria. True, only the chief repre- 
sentatives of each separate branch of literature were to be 
found in the narrow space available for them ; but to com- 
pensate for this, there were several rolls which contained 
the portraits of seven hundred remarkable men. These 
were the hebdomades or peplography of Varro, who, by 
means of a new and much-valued invention ^, was enabled 



■well known from comic ^vriters, and 
currentes is their peculiar epithet. 
Terence, Eun. Prol. 36 ; Heaut. 
Prol. 31. Examples occur in almost 
erery one of the comedies of Plautus. 
So hasty a pace was not, however, 
becoming to a respectable free-man 



Liberos homines per urbem medico magis 

par est gradu 
Ire ; servuli esse dico, festiuautem currere. 

^ The question as to what was the 
benig nissimuyn Varronis . inventum, 
has been lately revived. The chief 
passage in Pliny, xxxv. 2, bearing 



Plautus Toiii. iii. 1, 19. ' ^^ ^^^ matter is certainly in a tone of 



30 



GALLÜS. 



[Scene III. 



in an easy manner to multiplv the collection of bis por- 
traits^ and so to spread copies of them, with short biogra- 
phical notices of the men, through the whole learned world. 



admiration. Imaginum amove fla- 
grasse quondam testes sunt Atticus 
ille Ciceronis, edito de Ms vohcmine, 
et Marcus Varro henignissimo in- 
vento insertis voluminum suorum 
foicunditati non nominihus tantum 
septingentorum illustrium, sed et 
aliquo modo imaginihuSy non passiis 
intercidere figuras, ant vestustatem 
(svi contra homines valere, inventor 
muneris etiam Diis invidiosi, quando 
immortalitatem no7i solum dedit, ve- 
rum etiam in omnes terras onisit, ut 
frcBsentes esse uhique et claudi (?) 
fossent. It was an Iconography 
(consisting of one hundred rolls and 
sheets, each one of which contained 
seven pictures, with short biogra- 
phies, e])igramma, Grell, iii. 11 ; cpi- 
grammatum adjectione, or elegiis, 
S}'Tnmach. Ejp. i. 2. 4), unquestion- 
aisly the same book that Cicero, ad 
Attic, xvi. 11, calls U.^TrXoypacpiav 
Varronis, and that bore the name 
Hehdomades (Gell. iii. 10, qui in- 
scrihmtur (libri) hebdomades s. de 
imaginihus) ; but opinions are divid- 
ed as to wherein consisted its novelty 
and remarkableness. Brotier and 
Falconnet suppose that they were 
drawings on parchment or canvas. 
Visconti calls them des portraits 
'peints sans doute sur parchemin. 

On the other hand, De Pauw be- 
lieved that it was an invention for 
the multiplication of the portraits, 
and that it was copper-plate en- 
graving, which Ottfr. Müller con- 
siders most probably to have been 
the case. Quatremk-e de Quincy 
sets up a similar hypothesis, which, 
however, rests on a very insecure 
basis. Eaoul-Eochette gives the fol- 



lowing account of it : ' M. Quatre- 
mere de Quincy n'est point occupe 
de cette discussion preliminaire. 
Fidele ä sa methode de traiter les 
questions d'antiquite d'apr^s les 
seules textes antiques, sans avoir 
egard aux opinions des critiques mo- 
dernes, qui ont pu s'exercer sur les 
memes sujets, I'illustre auteur n'a 
fait aucune mention des idees de 
Brotier, de Falconnet et de Pauw. 
Encore moins aurait-il pu citer I'ex- 
plication d'un autre savant, laquelle 
rentre pourtant a pen pr^s dans la 
sienne, mais qui se trouve en quelque 
sorte cachee dans un ou^Tage d'ar- 
cheologie chretienne, ou Ton ne 
s'aATserait pas d'aller la ehercher. 
Je veux parier de I'idee de Mun- 
ter, qui rappelant, au debut de ses 
recherches sur I'iconographie chre- 
tienne, I'iuvention de Varron, sup- 
pose qu'elle consistait en portraits 
graves aux traits sur des planches 
de bois, et imprimes sur parchemin, 
tout en repoussant 1' opinion, que ces 
portraits, ainsi imprimes, aient pu 
etre colories ou enlumines en pin- 
ceau, de la main de Lala, comme on 
pourrait le croire d'apres un autre 
' passage de Pline (xxxv. 11, 40) : Lala 
Cyzicena — Marci Varronis inventa 
EomcB et penicillo finxit {et cestro in 
ebore). Le docte antiquaire Danois 
n'admet pas, en eflfet, dans le texte 
de Pline, la legon inventa, qu'il sup- 
pose une correction de quelque criti- 
que moderne, au lieu i^Q juventa, qui 
lui parait la le^on originale. Mais il 
se trompe certainement en ce point ; 
les mots : M. Varronis inventa, de ce 
passage de Pline, s'accordent trop 
bien avec le Varronis benignissimum 



SCRNE III.] 



STUDIES AND LETTERS. 



1 



On the other side of the library was a larger room, in 
which a number of learned slaves were occupied in tran- 
scribing, with nimble hand, the works of illustrious Grreek 



inventum de 1' autre texte, pour qu'il 
y ait le moindre lieu de douter, qu'ils 
u'expriment I'un et I'autreJ-a pensee 
de Pline, et qu'ils ne se rapportent 
I'un et I'autre un precede de Varron ; 
la legon inventa est d'ailleurs celle 
des meilleurs editions, conipris 1' edi- 
tion princeps de 1469. Cela pose, 
riiypothese de M. Quatremere de 
Quincy aequiert le plus haut degre 
de probabilite ; il suppose, que Var- 
ron fit executer au ccstre siir ivoire 
par la main de Lala, les portraits de 
son iconograptiie, dont eile avait peint 
les modeles au pinceau ; et que ces 
portraits, imprimes sur toile, se mul- 
tipliaient au moyen d'une pression 
ineeanique, dont le precede etaittrop 
simple et trop facile a trouver pour 
qu'il ait pu ofFrir le moindre embarras 
ä I'industrie Romaine de cette age.' 
The chief points of this hypo- 
thesis, with which Eaoul-Rochette 
coincides, are, that the inventum 
Varronis^v&s a means of miütiplying 
portraits ; that Lala of Cyzikos fxu-- 
nished the designs, and engraved 
them on ivory ; and that tinted en- 
gravings of them were made on can- 
vas, by means of several plates ; but 
the last assumption ' rests on a pure 
misapprehension. Cicero names the 
work ne7rAo7pa^io, analogously to 
the Panathenaic Peplos : of which 
Suidas under neVAos says : U^ttXov 
^TToirjcrau rrj 'Adrjva Kal eveypaipav 
rovs apicTTOvs iu avra. Arist. 
Equit, 566. äi^Spes a|iOi tov Tre- 
ttAou. Aristotle named thus his ge- 
nealogy of the Homeric heroes ; the 
word therefore denotes nothing more 
than a gallery of remarkable persons, 
as Popma, and after him Ernesti, 



have sufficiently shown. As for can- 
vas, or any substance whatever, on 
which the pictures were painted, it 
is not to be thought of. 

The process with the cestrum may 
have been merely a species of en- 
caustic engraving — but as to whether 
it was a simple biuming in of the out- 
line, or in some way a kind of stip- 
pling,we are still in the dark — whilst 
the drawing, by means of this biuming 
in, was to receive its tinted appear- 
ance or its consistency as an .engra- 
ving on the ivory, in order to bring 
forth the ivory-pictiu'es, Pliny rather 
obscurely describes XXV. 11, 41. En- 
causto pingendi duo fuisse anti- 
quitus genera constat, cera, et in 
ebore, cestro, id est, vinculo, donee 
classes fingi cosperunt. 

The other suppositions also appear 
very untenable. And it woidd ap- 
pear very strange if, for the piu'pose 
of engraving, they had taken such a 
fragile material as ivory, whilst cop- 
per or other durable metal presented 
itself. Besides, the reading of in- 
venta iorjuventa is very imsafe, and 
the last expression is so like one of 
Pliny's own, that we may entirely 
decide in favoiu' of it. 

Letronne opposed this hypothe- 
sis ; but the grammatical scruples 
that he raises are totally groundless. 
He denies that the invention con- 
sisted in a means of midtiplying, 
and supposes painted portraits, so 
that in that case inventum would 
simply mean a new idea. But the 
words of Pliny are clearly in oppo 
sition to him ; for besides that the 
epithet bcnignisshium conveys the 
idea of communication and common 



GALLUS. 



[Scene III. 



and the more ancient Eoman authors, both for the supply 
of the library, and for the use of those friends to whom 
Gall us obligingly communicated his literary treasures. 
Others were engaged in giving the rolls the most agree- 
able exterior, in gluing the separate strips of papyrus 
together, drawing the red lines which divided the dif- 
ferent columns, and writing the title ''in the same colour; 
in smoothing with pumice-stone and blackening the edges ; 
fastening ivory tops on the sticks round which the rolls 
were wrapped, and dyeing bright red or yellow the parch- 
ment which was to serve as a wrapper. 

G-allus, with Chresimus, entered the study, where the 
freedman, of whom he was used to avail himself in his 
studies '*, to make remarks on what was read, to note down 



utility, Pliny also expressly says : 
verum etiam in omnes terras onisif, 
ut ])r(ssentes esse ubique possent. It 
is therefore evident that he speaks 
of numerous copies ; and besides this, 
he says : non nominihis tantuni sejp- 
tirigentorum illustrium, sed et aliquo 
modo imaginihus, and gives ns posi- 
tively to understand that they were 
no regular portraits. Still it is to be 
doubted whether it could have been 
an engraving, on a plate of copper^ 
or any other metal, as such an in- 
vention would haye been of the ut- 
most moment, and necessarily less 
transitory. Pliny, too, would hardly 
have passed over the technical part 
of this new branch in the art of de- 
sign ; we cannot, therefore, include 
copper-plate engraving under aliquo 
onodo. 

Perhaps these aliquo modo ima- 
gines were portraits done Silhouette- 
fashion, or painted by means of shab- 
loons, or something similar ; for it can 
hardly be supposed that they were 
executed in colours, as in the Oriental 
painting, as it is called. Whether, 
when wall-painting at a later period 



became so general, this contrivance 
may have been made use of in a set 
of uniform arabesques, must be an- 
swered in the negative. Though it 
would not be impossible ; for even in 
the good times of art, they used to 
bethink themselves of methods of 
abbreviating labour {compendiarias, 
Plin. XXXV. 10, 36.) And perhaps 
we might refer to this the words of 
Petronius, c. 2, where he speaks of 
the decline of the arts of oratory and 
painting. Quis postea ad summam 
Tlmcydidis, quis Hyperidis adfamam 
processit ? ac ne carmen quidem sani 
coloris enituit ; sed omnia quasi eo- 
dem cibo pasta non potuerunt usque 
ad senectutem canescere. Pictura 
quoque non alium exitum fecit, post- 
quam Mgyptiarum audacia tam 
magncB artis compendiariam invenit. 
But in that case it would be strange 
if repetitions of the same paintings 
were not to be found at Hercula- 
neum and Pompeii. 

* Among the librarii were some 
who were made use of in studying, 
for the purpose of extracting and 



Scene IIL] 



STUDIES AND LETTERS. 



33 



particular passages, or to commit to paper his own poetical 
effusions, as they escaped him, was already awaitino- him. 
After giving Chresimus further instructions to make the 
necessary preparations for an immediate journey, he re- 
clined, in his accustomed ma/uner, on his studying couch, 



noting down remarks, a studiis. 
Orell. laser. 719; Suet. Claud, 28. 
Ac super h-os (libertos, maxime sus- 
pexit) Polybium a studiis qui S(spe 
inter duos Consules amhulahat. We 
see clearly what their business was 
from a letter of the young Cicero, 
Fam. xvi. 21 : Peto a te, ut quam 
celerrime lihrarius mihi mittatur, 
onaxime quidem Grmcus ; multum 
enim mihi eripitur opercB exscriben- 
dis hypomnematis. Best adapted for 
this purpose were the notarii, raxv- 
ypdcpoL, (T7)ixeioypd(l)oi, who wrote by 
means of marks, Sia a-rnxHuv — the 
short-hand writers of antiquity, unex- 
celled perhaps in facility even by the 
moderns. [This art was introduced 
into Eome during the last hundred 
years of its freedom. Plutarch ( Cat. 
Min. 23) calls Cicero, and Dio. Cass. 
Iv. 7, Maecenas, the inventor of it. 
Isodorus, i. 21, mentions Ennius as 
the founder of tachj-graphy, and the 
freedmen of Cicero and Msecenas, 
Tiro and Aquila, as those who in 
practice had further improved it. 
Gellius, xvii. 9, speaks not of steno- 
graphy, but of a kind of secret cy- 
pher-writing in use between Csesar, 
Oppius, and Balbus : In his epistolis 
quibusdam in locis inveniuntur li- 
terce singidarice sine coagmentis 
syllabarur/i, quas tu putes positas 
incondite ; nam verba ex his Uteris 
confici nulla possunt. Erat autem 
conventum inter eos clandestinum de 
commutando situ literarum, ut in 
scrip)to quidem alia ali<s locum et 
nomen teneret, sed in legendo locus 



cuique suus et potestas restitueretiir. 
There was also some process similar 
to our short-hand writing, and to that 
Pliny alludes when he calls Caesar the 
inventor of it. When, however, Cicero 
writes, ad Att. xiii. 21 : Quod ad te 
de decern Icgatis scripsi, parum intel- 
lexti, credo quia lia a-nfiduv scrip- 
seram; we must not suppose that 
either a secret cipher-writing or ste- 
nography is meant, but hieroglyphics 
(understood figuratively) or mys- 
terious indications, which Cicero was 
accustomed to make in his letters.] 
Later, the marks which the notarii 
made use of, were certainly far sim- 
pler than the 7wtcB TironiancB. Mart, 
xiv. 208, Notarius — 

Cnrraut rerba licet ; manus est velocior 
ilUs : 
Noudum lingua suum, dextra peregit 
opus. 

Seneca, Epist. 90. Quid verborum 
notas, quibus quamvis citata exci- 
pitur oratio, et celeritatem lingua 
manus sequitur; Orell. laser. 2876, 
and Manil. iv. 197: 

Hie et scriptor erit velox, cui litera verbum 

est, 
Quique notis linguam superet, cursimque 

loquentis 
Excipiet long* nova per compendia voces. 

The elder Pliny had himself a 
notarius by his side on a journey, 
that the time might not pass idly : 
Ep. iii. 5 (in itinere) ad latus no- 
tarius cum libro et pugiUaribus, cujus 
manus hieme manicis muniebantur 
tit ne cceli quidem asperitas ullum 
studii tempus eriperct. 



34 GALLUS. [Scene III. 

supported on his left arm, his right knee being drawn up 
somewhat higher than the other, in order to place on it 
his books or tablets. ' G-ive me that roll of poetry of mine, 
Phsedrns,' said he to the freedman ; ^I will not set out till 
I have sent the book finished to the bookseller. I cer- 
tainly do not much desire to be sold in the Argiletan 
taverns for five denarii, and find my name hung up on the 
doors, and not always in the best company ; but Secundus 
worries me for it, and therefore be it so.' ' He under- 
stands his advantage,' said Phsedrus, as he drew forth the 
roll from the cedar-wood chest. ' I wager that his scribes 
will have nothing else to do for months, but to copy off 
your Elegies and Epigrams, and that you will be rewarded 
with the applause poured upon them not by Eome only, 
nor by Italy, but by the world.' 

' Who knows ? ' said Grallus. ' It is always hazardous 
to give to the opinion of the public that which was only 
written for a narrow circle of tried friends : and besides, 
our public is so very capricious. For one I am too cold, for 
another I speak too much of Lycoris ; my Epigrams are too 
long for a third ^ ; and then there are those grammarians, 
who impute to me the blunders which the copyist in his 
hurry has committed ^. But look ! ' continued he, as he 
unfolded the roll, ^ there is just room left before we get to 
the umbilicus, for a small poem on which I meditated this 
morning when walking to and fro in the peristyle. It 
is somewhat hurriedly thrown off, I grant, and its jocular 
tone is not exactly in keeping with the last elegy. Per- 
haps they will say, I had done better ^o leave it out, but 
its contents are the best proof of its unassumingness ; why, 
therefore, should I not let the joke stand? Listen then, 
and write.' 

Phsedrus here was about taking the roll. 'No,' said 



^ Martial had to bear this impu- 
tation more than once. See ii. 77, 
iii. 83, vi. 65. I 



« Martial, ii. 8. See the Excui- 
sus, The Bookseller. 



Scene III.] STUDIES AND LETTERS. 35 

Grallus, 'the time before our departure is too brief. Take 
style and tablet, write with abbreviations, and insert it 
afterwards whilst I am dictating a few letters.' Phasdrus 
obeyed, sat down on the foot of the couch, and wrote as 
follows to his master's dictation : — 

TO MY BOOK. 

Fond book ! why, uninvited, haste to roam 
Abroad, while thou mayst safely stay at home ? 
E'en among friends thou'lt earn but doubtful ]3raise, 
What madness then to brave the world's proud gaze, 
And nostril curl'd and supercilious sneer ! 
Of spiteful critic's pen to be in fear ! — 
What ! though no gross plebeian form be thine, 
Though trac'd with cunning hand thy letters shine ; 
Though Tyrian purple veil thy page of snow, 
And painted knobs o'er thy black edges glow, 
Dost hope by this to please book-learned wights ? 
To grace the shelves of Phoebus' sateUites ? 
Be carried in the bosom, prais'4, caress'd, 
And read by all the world from east to west ? 
Vain hope ! thy beauty's pride, thy swelling roll, 
A smoky kitchen is their destined goal. 
Or else to greasy taverns thou'lt be borne, 
Then, greas'd thyself, with filthy wares return. 
I've seen (prodigious fate, but no less true) 
Your Ciceros, extoll'd beyond their due. 
To pepper-pokes consign'd, and bags for salt, 
Not Attic : that they lack'd — their only fault — 
Or sprats enclosed within their humid leaves ; 
Sprats ! or whate'er the dirty cook receives. 
Warn'd by such great examples, shun their fate, 
Nor learn discretion at so dear a rate. 
Words to the winds ! stiU struggling to be fr'ee ? 
Go, but when injured, blame thyself, not me." 



'■ The original of this translation runs as follows : — 

Quo pi'operas, insane liber ? male nota quid 

hospes 

Tecta subis, tuto cui licet esse domi ? 

Quis furor est, populi tumidis opponere 

rhonchis, 

Ah ! vereor, sociis vix placitura viris ? 



Contemtumque pati,nasoque ferociter unco 

Suspendi, et tristes estimuisse notas? 
An quia plebeiam vincit tua charta papy- 
rum, 
Et uitet artifici litera facta manu ; 
Candida quod Tyrio Telatur pagina fuco, 
2 



;6 



GALLUS. 



[Scene III. 



Pbsedrus had written with all possible rapidity ; and from 
his countenance it was not easy to discover his opinion 
of this apostrophe. He then departed to copy the poem 
more intelligibly on the roll, and to send thither Philo- 
damus, whom his master generally employed to write his 
letters ; equally acquainted with both languages, he used, 
in most instances, to discharge the duties of the Grreek 
and Latin correspondent, and particularly when the con- 
tents of the letters made a confidential scribe necessary. 
To-day, however, this was not the case; for Gallus only 
wished some short fÄendly letters, which contained no 
secrets, to be written. Philodamus brought the style, the 
wooden tablets coated over with wax, and what was re- 
quisite for sealing the letters ; took the seat of Phaedrus, 
and set down with expert hand the short sentences which 



Pictaque nigranti comua fronte geris; 
Scrinia Phoebese speras habitare catervte, 

Et fieri doctis carior inde viris ? 
Gestarique sinu belle, lepidi'.sque vocari 
Forsitan, et toto plurimus orbe legi ? 
Nequidquam, heu ! forma tumidiim, cultu- 
que superbum 
Accipiet fumo nigra culina suo. 
Mercibus aut unctas migrabis, culte, taber- 
nas, 
Ut referas merces unctus et ipse donrnm. 
Vidimus elates nimium, meritisque fero- 
ces — 
Vera loquor, quamquam prodigiosa lo- 
qnor — 
Aut salis, aut piperis Cicerones esse cucuUos, 
Quodque aberat scriptis sal tameu intus 
erat. 
Cordylfeque fere madida latnere papyro, 

Quidquid et immundi poscitopellacoqui. 
Si sapis, exemplis monitus, liber, utere 
tantis, 
Et proprio noli cautior esse male. 
Ventis verba cadunt. Pugnas tamen ire ? 
licebit. 
I, fuge, sed laesus parce, libelle, queri. 

The joke here indulged in, of 
palming this sportive effusion on Gal- 
Ins, must not be mistaken, or con- 
sidered presumptuous. Such a vov- 
deaia would in itself be nothing un- 
common, for Horace, i. 17, 11, speaks 
to his book in a similar manner, and 



in Martial more such warnings are to 
be found. I cannot here omit a re- 
mark or two in defence of the text. 
In V. 3, I have had in my eye Virg. 
Mn. ii. 127, recusal quemquam op- 
ponere morti, and am of opinion that 
from thence Propert. i. 17, 11, is also 
to be amended : 

An poteris siccis mea fata reponere ocellis, 
Ossaque nulla tuo nostra tenere sinu ? 

Here the Cod. optimus Postkianits, 
or, Groninganus, has opjponere, and 
so I believe the proper reading to 
be : me fato opponere, for that is the 
only idea suitable. To take reponere 
fata, for componere funus or ossa, is 
quite impossible, because' Propertius 
does not hope for a burial. But 
Cynthia is mentioned as the cause 
of his calamity, through her dirce. 
Should one, however, be offended at 
the opponere rhonchis, he can instead 
of it {si tanti est) read committere. 
Nobody can refer this attack on 
Cicero to anything else than useless 
editions, such as the last century pro- 
duced in abundance. 



Scene III.] 



STUDIES AND LETTERS. 



Ofallus dictated. Notifications of his departure to his friends ; 
invitations to them to visit him at his villa; approval of 
a purchase of some statues and pictures, which a friend 
in Athens had made for him ^ ; recommendations of one 
friend to another in Alexandria ; such were the quickly 
despatched subjects of the day's correspondence. Grallus 
then himself took style and tablets, to write with his own 
hand some words of affection to Lycoris, and induce her 
to follow him, but not indeed to his villa — for he felt too 
well that a liaison of this description could only be lasting 
whilst distance allowed his imagination to decorate reality 
in its bright colours, and that by living together under the 
same roof, all the charm and poetry of love would be 
destroyed. For this reason, he proposed that she should 
go to Baiae, and doubted not to see his desire accom- 
plished ; as the cheerful bustle of that much visited water- 
ing place promised pleasure in abundance ; while the near 
proximity of his villa gave hopes of their being able to 
visit each other frequently. Many men would no doubt 
have felt scruples about sending their loved ones thither, 
where there existed temptations of all kinds, sufficient 
almost to seduce one of severer virtue than such a flighty 
libertina. Grallus, however, knew Lycoris too well to dis- 
trust her ; she had only once in past times been unfaithful 
to him ^, and perhaps the fault then was more on his side 
than on hers. 

He read over once more the letters which Philodamus 



^ Cicero writes in a different sense 
{ad Fam. vii. 23) to Fabins Grallus, 
haK in joke, half in anger, respecting 
such a purchase. The whole letter 
is very instructive, and the words, Tu 
autem, ignarus instituti mei, quanti 
ego genus omnino signorum omnium 
non (Bstimo, tanti ista guatuor aut 
quinque sumpsisti, fully characterize 
Cicero's love of art. The object re- 
presented was everything to him, 



and his HermathencB and Hermera- 
klcB were of more value in his eyes 
than the most charming Bacchce, by 
the master-hand of a Grreek. See 
Cic. ad Attic, i. 4, 10. 

^ A w^ant of faith rendered famous 
by the tenth Eclogue of Virgil, which 
bears the name of Gallus : the soUi- 
citi amores Galli, as Virgil says. 



38 



GALLüS. 



[SCEME III. 



had written ; the slave then fastened the tablets together 
with crossed thread, and where the ends were knotted, 
placed a round piece of wax ; while Grallus drew from his 
finger a beautiful beryl, on which was engraved by the 
hand of Dioscorides, a lion driven by four amoretts, 
breathed on it, to prevent the tenacious wax from ad- 
hering to it^°, and then impressed it deeply into the 
pliant mass. Meanwhile Philodamus had summoned the 
tabellarii, or slaves used for conveying letters. Each of 
them received a letter ; but that destined for Athens was 
about to be entrusted to a friend journeying thither. 

Scarcely were these matters well concluded, when the 
slave who had charge of the time-pieces entered, and 
announced that the finger of the dial was now casting its 
shadow upon the fourth hour, and that the fifth was about 
commencing. This was the time that Gallus had fixed 
for departure; he therefore hastened to leave the apart- 
ment, and allow himself to be assisted in his travelling 
toilet by the slaves in attendance for this purpose. 



'" There is a peculiar interest in 
tracing these minute resemblances 
between the customs of the ancients 
and ourselves, although such agree- 
ment IS only natural. We too breathe 
on the ring before sealing with it. 
Ovid says, Amor. ii. 15, 15, were he 
the ring of his love : 
Idem ego, ut arcanas possem signare tabel- 
las, 

Neve tenax ceram siccave gemma trahat, 
Humidaformossetangam priusora puell£e. 



These are, in point of fact, trifles ; 
but the more the error of supposing 
the life of the ancients quite different 
from our own is indulged in, the more 
should such minute customs be 
brought forward, in order, that by 
instituting a comparison between 
them, we may bring those times 
nearer to our own. 



SCENE THE FOUETH. 



THE JOURNEY. 

GALLUS had to go a considerable distance through the 
streets after leaving his mansion, before he reached 
the Porta Capena, from which point he was about to 
journey along the Via Appia^ to his villa. This was a most 



* The most celebrated road of 
Italy, Via Appia, which excited the 
admiration even of those times, and 
the remains of which have always 
been objects of wonder, called by 
Stat. Silv. ii, 2, 12, regina viarum, 
was first made from Eome to Capna, 
by Appius Claudius Csecus, about 
442A.U.C. Procopius, whowas an eye- 
witness, struck with astonishment at 
the magnificence of the work, gives 
a description of it, de Bello Goth. i. 
14 : 'O 5e (BeAi(rapif)s) ^la ttjs Aart- 
vciiv oSoG (XTT^^e rh ffTpctreu^a, t^j/ 
'ATTiriau odhu acpels iv apiCTepa. ^y 
"Ainnos 6 'Vcc/xaKov viraros ivva- 
Koalois iviavTols irpoTepov inoirjcre 
re Koi iTTOäVvpiOv %(tx^v. "Eo-rt 5e -^ 
'ÄTTTTia oZhs Tjuepcüi' frevre auSpl 
ev(uvw' CK 'Vcüju-ris yap avrrj is 
Kairvrju Sir]K€i. edpos Se iffri ttjs 
o^ov ravTTjs '6(Tov a/xd^as Svo a\- 
A7]\ais ivavTiaLS Uvai, KoX '4(Ttlv 
a^LoOmros Trdurcou ixdALara. rhv yap 
\'lOov airavra, [xvXirriv re ovtu koI 
<j)V(T€i CKXriphv, e/c ■)(_(apas &\\t}S ixa- 
Kpav ovaris re[xwu "Attttios ivravda 
fKOfxiae • ravrris yap Br) ttjs yris 
ouSa/xfj TretpvKe. Xeiovs 5e tovs 
\i6ovs Ka\ ofxaXovs ipyaad/xepos, 
iyywviovs 8e tt; ivrofifj ireTvoirjue- 
vos is aWiiXovs ^vviSr}aev ovts x"-^- 
Kov ivrhs oure ri dX\o ifxßeßX7]iJi.4uos. 
ol de aKX7]XoLS oinca re aacpaXcüs 
^vude^evrai Ka\ fxefivKatxiv, &(rre 'Sri 



Stj ovk elalv 7}pixo(riJi.evoi, aA\' ifxire- 
(pvKaffiv aXXiiXois, Mi^av rois opSxTi 
Trapexovrai. Kal XP^^°^ rpißeuros 
(rvx^^ov Srj ovrcos a/xd^ais re ttoX- 
Xa7s Kal (wois airacn hiaßarol ye- 
v6[xevoL, is Tjixepav eKd(rrr]v ovre ttjs 
apfxovias iravrd-KacTL diaKeKpiurai, 
ovre rivl avrcov diacpdaprjvai 7} ^ei- 
ovL yeveffOai ^weTreaev, oh fXTjv ovde 
rrjs aiiapvyr\s ri aTroßaXevdaL. The 
main points of which are, that the 
Appian Way was made by Appius 
five days' journey in length, as it 
reached from Rome to Capua. It 
was broad enough for two carriages 
to pass each other, and was built of 
stone, snchas is used for mill-stones, 
but which was not found in the neigh- 
bourhood. The stones are hewn sharp 
and smooth, and their corners fit into 
one another without the aid of metal, 
or any other connecting material, so 
that the whole appears to be one na- 
tural stone, and notwithstanding the 
great traffic, it is in a wonderful state 
of preservation. Procopius assigns 
to it the age of 900 years, which is at 
least fifty years too much. It is most 
remarkable that he should confine the 
Appian Way to the distance between 
Rome and Capua, for though Appius 
Claudius had only built it to that 
place, still it was afterwards continued 
as far as Brundusium. All accounts 
on the date of this extension appear to 



40 



GALLUS. 



[Scene TV. 



charming place between Sinuessa and Capua, and pre- 
sented the most perfect assemblage of all things necessary, 
in order, as Horace observes, to quaff happy oblivion of 



be wanting, and in their absence the 
most various suppositions have been 
made. Some think that this was done 
by Julius Caesar, although he gives no 
tenable ground for this supposition, 
and appears qu.ite in error about the 
direction of the road. On the other 
hand, others assert that it must have 
been continued very soon after Ap- 
pius, and reached to Brundusium as 
early as the civil war between Casar 
and Pompey, in proof of which they 
adduce a letter from Pompey (in 
Cic. Att. viii. 11), who writes thus to 
Cicero : Censeo Via A^ppia iter facias, 
et celeriter Brundusium venias. 

It is necessary that we should be 
clear about the direction of the Via 
Appia, before we can form any opi- 
nion of the period when it was con- 
tinued further. It went from Eome 
by Bovillee, Aricia, Forum Appii, 
Terracina, Fundi, Formiae, Minturnse, 
and Sinuessa to Capua, and from 
thence to Beneventum ; of this there 
is no doubt. Some suppose that it 
proceeded from thence by Canusium 
to the sea-coast, and along it, by 
Barium, and Egnatia, and as Horace 
travelled this way with Maecenas to 
Brundusium, that the Via Appia 
must at least, at this period, have 
been extended as far as there. But 
the premises of this conclusion are 
false, for, as it has been demonstra- 
ted, the road leading along the coast 
was not the Appian. Strabo, vi. 3, 
says : Auo 8' etVl (oSot), fiia fihv 
rffjLLOviKr] 8ta TlevKeTiuu, ovs Tloidi- 
kAovs KaKov<TL, Kol Aavt/iTwv Kol 
'XavvLTuiV jwe'xP' Bei/fOueVrou • e^' t; 
65ü5 'Y.yvaria tz6\is, elra KeAia, Ka\ 
NrfTioj/ Kol KavvffLOU Kal KepSavia' 



71 5e 5ia TdpafTOS /niKphv iu apiare- 
p'x. "Ocrou Se fxias rj/xepas irepioSou 
KeKÄ^vaauTi 7] 'Ainria Xcyoixivr] 
ajxaii]\aros p.aXKof • iv ravTrj Se 
■7r6\is OvpLO. re Kal Ousvovaia, r) fxhv 
/uera^v TapavTOS Kal Bp€VTeaiov. t) 
S' eV jj-fdopiois 'Zavvniiov koX AevKU- 
viwv. 2,viJ.ßdWov(n 5e &iJi.<po} Kara 
BeveovevTOj/ koI t)]v Kafxiraviau 4k 
Tov Bp^uTicriov. TovvTevOcv S' Tjdrj 
/J-expi TTjs 'PüSftrjs '"ATTTTia KuXeTrai, 
fia Kavdiov koI KaXarias, Kal Ka- 
TTvas Kal Kaai\ivov /J-expi '2,ivov4(T- 
(TrfS' TO. 8' ii^deu^e (Xp-qrai. (B. v. 
C. 3.) 'H Se Traca eariv e/c 'Pcü/xtjs 
ets 'BpeuTcaiou p.iKia t|'. In another 
passage Strabo says, v. 3: 'ErraCöo 
Se avvdivrci ttj OaXdrrri Trpwrou 7) 
'Airvia odhs, iarpccixivT] fxkv airb ttjs 
'PcoiuL7}s laexpt Bpeurecriov, irXf'laTov 
8' bZivojxivr]. tS)v 8' iirl OaXdrTr) ttJ- 
Aecoj' TOVTCou icpairroiuLevT) fi.6uov, ttjs 
Tc TapanLvris, Kal twv icpe^Tis ^op- 
fxiuu fxev Kal Mivrovpvrjs Kal '2,li/ov- 
4a<X7is Kal tSjv iaxdrwv TdpavrSs re 
Kal Bpeurealov. We learn therefore, 
beyond all doubt, that tliis more 
eastern road was not named the Ap- 
pian, which only applied to the more 
western one, which led by way of 
Venusia. The opinion that it must 
have been, in the time of Horace, 
built as far as Brundusium, is also 
erroneous, for Horace travelled on the 
eastern road by Equotutium, Kubi, 
Barium, and Grnatia, and it would 
have been strange that Maecenas 
should have chosen the route through 
the Apulian hills, if the more con- 
venient Appian Way led to Brun- 
dusium; and, since Strabo is ac- 
quainted with it in its whole length, 
it could not have been made much 



Scene IV.] 



THE JOUE?n"EY, 



41 



the disturbing cares of life. The litter, manned by six 
stalwart Syrian slaves, whose light-red livery distinguished 
them from the rest of the escort, who were dressed in 
brown travelling coats, w^as already in waiting at the 
vestibule. The carriage in which Gallus intended to 
travel before nightfall the first forty-two miles of his 
journey, to Forum Appii, was waiting outside the city, by 
the grove of the Gamoenas^. He had meanwhile donned 



later. The argument adduced from 
Cicero proves nothing ; for Pompey 
could still have advised Cicero to 
travel on the Via Appia (and not the 
Latina) as far as it went. 

Strabo, however, seems by the 
words TOvvT^vQ^v o' tjStj M^XP* "^^^ 
'Vwjxris ^ATTiria KaX^lrai, to mean 
that only the part from Beneventura 
to Kome was called Via Appia; and 
as Procopius also confines the name 
to the distance between Eome and 
Capua, the road probably from thence 
to Brundusium was not constructed in 
the same manner, and thus the old part 
might always specially bear the name. 
Livy says, x. 23: Eodem anno On. 
et Q. Ogulnii ced. cur. aliquot fcene- 
ratoribus diem dixerunt, qiiorum bo- 
nis inidtatis ex eo quod in jjublicum 
redactum est — semitam saxo quadrato 
a Cajoena porta ad Martis stravcrunt ; 
and c. X. 47 : Damnatis aliquot pecua- 
riis via a Martis silice ad Bovillus, 
perstrata est. From whence some 
conclude that the Appian Way was 
not originally paved, but only gravel- 
led, for in that time it had been built 
nearly twenty years. Of the former 
portion, we read in Liv. xxxviii. 28, 
viam silice sternendam a porta Ca- 
tena ad Martis locaverunt, and con- 
sequently the whole way, via, not till 
560, and pre^-ious to then, only the se- 
mita, a trottoir. Still, the Via Appia 



is not named in any of these passages, 
and the Temple of Mars alluded to 
here, and vii. 23, may have been situ- 
ated sidewards, in which case quite a 
different way would be meant, for the 
temple on the Appian Way was first 
built by Sylla. Moreover, in both 
passages, we have silice sterncre, to 
pave, which is very differentfrom lapi- 
de sterncre, to lay with slabs ; and the 
expression does not therefore suit the 
Appian Way, for it was certainly laid 
with hewn slabs, not square, but of 
irregular form, the corners of which 
fitted exactly into each other, simi- 
larly, perhaps, to the Cyclopian walls. 
On both sides there was a higher 
border, margo, on which were placed 
alternately, seats and milestones, but 
this was doubtless a later addition, 
and is so called in Liv. xli. 27 : Cen- 
sores vias stern^ndas silice in Urbe, 
glarea extra urbem substruendas mar- 
ginandasque primi omnium locave- 
rant. The primi omnium refers only 
to 7narginare. 

2 Not far from the «Porta Capena, 
probably in the Vallis Egerise, was 
the Lucus Camcenarum, also called 
simply Camcense. The scholiast on 
Juv. Sat. iii. 10, says, 8tetit cx- 
pectans rhedam, ubi solent Trocon- 
sules jurare in Via Appia ' ad por- 
tam Capenam, i. e. ad Camoenas, and 



42 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV. 



his travelling shoes, and changed his toga for the more 
befitting dress for travelling, the jpcenula. All the other 
preparations had been already seen to by Chresimus; 
a number of slaves were dispatched before with the 
baggage, while others were to follow after ; those only 
who were indispensable being permitted to accompany 
their lord. These arrangements had been completed 
in less than two hours by some hundred nimble hands, 
whom a sign from the dispeiisator had set in motion, 
and there were no female slaves, to cause any further 
delay by their dilatory toilet and tedious preparation^. 
Grallus consequently found himself, before half the fifth 
hour had elapsed, reclining on the cushions of the lec- 
tica; the Syrians then ran their poles through the rings 
affixed to the sides, lifted the burden on their broad 
shoulders, and strode expeditiously along the street, whilst 
the remainder of the escort partly opened a passage for 
them through the crowd, and partly kept behind to bring 
up ihe rear. 

The way led through the most lively portion of the 
city, and it was just the time when the streets, though 



Mart, ii, 6, 15 : 

Et cum currere clebeas Bovillas, 
Interjungere quseris ad Camoenas. 

Gralhis is made to go throiigh the 
city in the lectica, while the carriages 
wait ad Camoenas, on account of 
doubts whether it was allowed at that 
period to drive in a travelling carriage 
through the streets. For there are 
no instances of it, and Claudius even 
forbad travellers to drive through 
the towns of Italy in a carriage- 
Suet. Claud. 25. 

In Juv. iii. Umbricius, and pro- 
bably his whole family also, enter 
the rheda outside the town : 
Sed dum totadomus rheda componitar una, 
Siibstitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Ca- 
penam. 



It is quite manifest that the car- 
riage had waited outside the gate, 
not that it came after, from the words 
at the end of the Satire : 
Sed jumenta vocant, et sol inclinat : eundum 

est, 
Nam mihi commota jam dudum mulio virga 
Adnuit. 

' Such delays in the departure on 
a journey appear to have been com- 
mon. Pleusides, in Plaut. Mil. iv. 
7, 9, says : 

Mulier profecto nata est ex ipsa mora. 
Nam quae vis alia, quae mora est geque, mora 
Minor ea videtur,quam quae propter mulie- 
rem est. 

Milo too says, in the preceding 
scene: Paullisper dum se uxor, ut 
fit, com/parat, commoratus est. 



Scene IV.] 



THE JOURXEY. 



43 



always full, presented the most motley throng, and the 
greatest bustle ; for the sixth hour approached, when a 
general cessation from business commenced^, and people 
generally were wont to take their morning meal. Whilst 
some therefore were still sedulously engaged in their daily 
avocations, many of the less occupied were already hurry- 
ing to the place of refreshment. Here, a prompt builder 
was despatching, by mules and carriers, the materials of 
a new building, for which he had only just contracted ^ ; 
there, huge stones and beams were being Avound up aloft, 
for the completion of an edifice. Countrymen with loud 
cries were driving to and fro their mules, carrying, in 
baskets ^ suspended on either side, the produce of the 
country into the city ; or perhaps the street would become 
stopped up by a solemn funeral procession happening to 
meet a heavily laden waggon coming in the opposite 
direction. The most lively sight was presented by the 
Subura, where a multitude of hawkers plied their miser- 
able trade. Some from the region beyond the Tiber 



* Scxta quies lassis, says Martial, 
iv. 8 ; and during this time the me- 
renda, or pranclium, was taken. See 
the Excursus on The Meals. The 
many idle persons "«"ho lived at Eome 
even then, and more numerously af- 
terwards, and the multitude of slaves, 
who also did not fail in the scij^ere ad 
genium, no doubt betook themselves 
to the various tabcrnm at this period. 
See the Excursus on The Taverns. 

^ The bustle and hurry in the 
streets of Rome are described in lively 
colours by Horace and Juvenal, The 
first, Epist. ii. 2, 72 : 

Festinat calidus mvilis gerulisqiie redemtor; 
Torquet nunc lapidem, nuncingens machi- 

na tignum ; 
Tristia robustis luctantnr funera plaustris; 
Hac rabiosa fngit canis, hac lutnlenta ruit 



The latter, Sat. iii. 245 : 

ferit hie cubito, ferit asserednro 

Alter, at Mc tignum capiti incutit, ille me- 

tretam. 
Pinguia crura luto ; planta mox undique 

magna 
Calcor ,et in digito clavus mihi militis hseret. 

And iii. 254:, in accordance with Ho- 
race : 

modo longa coriiscat 

Sarraco venieHte abies atque altera pinum 
Plaustra vehimt, nutant altce, populoqne 

minantur. 
jSTam si procubuit, qui saxa Ligustica portat 
Axis, et eversum fudit super agminamon- 

tem, 
Quid superest de coi-poribus ? 

^ In this manner mules and asses 
were laden, and this is what Petron. 
c. 31, means by hisacciura. Comp. 
Apul. Met. ix. 



44 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV. 



offered matches "^ for sale, occasionally taking in exchange 
broken glass, instead of money ; others carried boiled peas, 
and sold a dish of them to the poorest class for an as, 
whilst those accustomed to somewhat better fare, betook 
themselves to the cook's boy, who, with a loud voice, cried 
smoking sausages for sale. In one place a curious crowd 
was collected round an Egyptian juggler, about whose 
neck and arms the most venomous snakes familiarly wound 
themselves. In another stood a group reading the pro- 
gramme ^, painted in large letters on the wall of a public 



'■ The profession of this people 
was probably not more respectable 
than that pursued by our chiffoniers ; 
they sold matches, sulphurata, and 
bartered them for broken glass, which 
they repaired again with sulphur. 
Their head-quarters were trans Ti- 
berim, generally the abode of the 
lowest class. Mart. i. 42 : Trans- 
tiberinus ambulator, qid fallentia 
sid'phurata fractis jpermutat vitreis ; 
Stat. 8ilv. i. 6, 77 : Plebs qua com- 
minutis 'permutat vitreis gregale sul- 
jphur. They cried their wares, as we 
see from Martial, xii. 57, 14, where^ 
among the reasons enumerated why 
one could not sleep in Eome, the 
sulphur at (B lippus institor mercis is 
mentioned. Comp, Euperti ad Ju- 
venal. V. 48. 

^ As among us the plays at the 
theatres are made known by placards 
exposed to public view, so they were 
announced among the ancients by 
means of inscriptions on the wall 
{jprogrammata) in public and fre- 
quented places. Several such inscrip- 
tions have been discovered at Pom- 
peii. See Mus. Borb. i. p. 4 : A. Suettii 
cerii cedilis familia gladiatoria ptug- 
nabit Fompciis Pr. K. Junius ve- 



natio et vela erunt ; in ii. p. 7 is one 
of still greater value : Dedicatione 
. . . arum muneris Cn. Alii Nigidii 
Mai . . . venatio, athletes, sparsiones, 
vela erunt. For others, see Gell's 
Pompeiana, in several places ; Orell. 
Inscr. i. 2556, 2559. In the same 
manner, either by means of the prcBco, 
or inscriptions on the walls, or by 
writing on a tablet hung out of doors, 
private persons made knoN^oi when 
they had lost any thing, or when 
they had anything to let or sell. The 
oldest traces of such announcements 
are in Plaut. Merc. iii. 4, 78 : 

Certum est, prseconum ]u]3ere jam quantum 

est conducier, 
Qui illam investigent, qui inveniant. 

And Mencech. v. 9, 93, when Messe- 
nio, as prcsco, announces the auction 
of Mensechmus. But a special pas- 
sage is Petr. 97 : Intrat stabulum 
prcBco cum servo publico, aliaque sane 
modica frequentia, facemque fumo- 
sam magis quam lucidam quassans 
hcBc proclamavit ; Puer in balnio 
2)aidlo ante aberravit annoruon circa 
XVI., crispus, mollis, formosus, no- 
mine Giton ; ei quis cum. reddcre, 
aut commonstrare voluerit, accipiet 
nummos milk. For the placards 
there is a locus classicus in Prop. 



SCEXE IV.] 



THE JOURNEY. 



45 



building, of the next contests of gladiators, which pro- 
mised to be brilliant, as the place of exhibition was to 
be covered with an awning — but everywhere the lower 
classes, old and young, were hurrying to the thermopolice 
and cookshops, to obtain each his wonted seat, and to 
drink for breakfast, according to choice, a goblet of honey- 
wine or the favourite calda. This motley multitude kept 
passing through streets which were, besides this, rendered 
disagreeably narrow by a numerous cluster of shops chok- 



iii. 23, 23, where a letter has been 
lost : 

I puer, et citus heec aliqua propone columna; 
Et dominum Esquilns scribe habitare 

tuum; 
and Dig. xlvii. 2, 43. Sole^it jplcrique 
hoc etiam facere, ut lihellum jpropo- 
nent. 

The vela mentioned in both the 
aunouncemeuts referred to, served 
to cover in the theatre. This conve- 
nience was first provided for the spec- 
tators by Q. Catiilus, a.u.c. 683. 
Plin. xix. 1, 6 : Fostea in thcatris 
tantam umhram feccre, quod 'primus 
omnium invcnit Q. Catulus, cum Ca- 
pitolium dedicaret. Carbasina deinde 
vela primus in theatris duxisse tra- 
ditur Lentulus Spinther Apollina- 
rihus ludis. Mox Ccesar Dictator 
totum forum Bomanum intexit, &c. 
Lucret. iv. 73, describes the new cus- 
tom : 

Et vnlgo faciunt id lutea russaque vela, 
Et ferrugina, cum magnis intenta theatris 
Per males volgata trabesque trementiafluc- 

tant. 
Coloured cloths were used even at this 
period. In Pliny's time the luxury 
went still further ; they imitated the 
starry heaven: Vela nuper colore coeli 
stellata per rudcntes iere etiam in 
amphitheatro principis Ncronis. The 
sparsiones mentioned in the second 
programme consisted in besprinkling 



the theatre with sweet-smelling es- 
sences, as saffron, crocus, the odour of 
which appears to have pleased the 
ancients. This sprinkling was effected 
by means of pipes, from which the 
liquids were thrown as from the jets 
of a fountain. Sen. Epist. 90 : TJtrum 
tandem sapientiorem putas, qui inve- 
nit, quem ad modum in immensam 
cdtitudinem crocum latentibus fistulis 
exprimat ? Sen. Qucsst. Hiat. ii. 9 : 
ISumquid dubitas, quin sparsio ilia, 
qu(B ex fundamentis niedice arencs 
crescens in summam cdtitudinem am- 
phitheatri perveoiit, cum intentione 
aqucsfiatl This took place just the 
same in a regular theatre, and the 
boards, as well as the spectators, 
were besprinkled. Hence Martial 
says, V. 25 : 

Hoc, rogo, nou melius, quam rubro pulpita 
nimbo 
Spargere, et effuso permaduisse croco ? 

and lubrica, or madcntia croco pul- 
pita, are often mentioned. See Lips. 
de Amphith. c. 16. Essences and 
flowers were rained down in the tri- 
clinia also, as with Nero. See Suet. 
Ner. 31 ; comp. Dio. Cass. Ixix. 8. 
That this was customary, at least as 
early as the time of Augustus, we see 
from Ovid, Art. Am. i. 104 : 

Tmic neque marmoreo pendebant vela the- 
atre, 
Nee fuerant liquido pulpita rubra croco. 



46 



GALLUS. 



[Scene TV. 



ing them up^, for huxters and merchants of all sorts, 
artists in hair and salve-sellers, butchers and pastrj^cooks, 
but above all vintners, had built their booths far into the 
street, so that you might even see tables arranged along 
the piers and pillars of the halls, and covered with bottles, 
which were, however, cautiously fastened by chains, lest 
perchance they might be filched by the hand of some 
Strobilus or Thesprio hurrying by. In consequence of so 
many obstructions occurring every moment, it was certainly 
more convenient to allow yourself to be carried through 
the throng, reclining in a lectica, although it often re- 
quired very safe bearers, and now and then the sturdy 
elbow of the prceamhulo to get w^ell through ; by this 
mode you had also the advantage of not being incessantty 
seized by the hand, addressed, or even kissed ^^, a custom 



^ The taberncB built up against the 
houses had, by degrees, so narrowed 
the streets, that Domitian caused a 
decree to be issued against them, and 
every one was confined to the area of 
the house. Martial, his' ever-ready 
flatterer, has also immortalized the 
interdict by an epigram (vii. 61) in- 
teresting to us, as it contributes so 
much towards a picture of the ap- 
pearance of the Eoman streets : 
Abstulerat totam temerarias institor urbem 

Inque suo nullum limine limen erat. 
Jussisti tenues, Germanice, crescere vicos; 

Et modo quiB fuerat semita, facta via est. 
Nulla catenatis pila est prtecincta lagenis, 

Nee praetor medio cogitur ire luto. 
Striugitur in densa nee c£eca novacula tur- 
ba, 

Occupat aut totas nigra popina vias. 
Tonsor, caupo, coquus, lanius sua limina 
servant. 

Nunc Roma est ; nuper magna taberna 
fuit. 
We see from it that wine was sold not 
only inside the taberncB, but also be- 
fore them : probably at the pillars of 
the porticos, tables were set with bot- 
tles, which were fastened by chains to 
prevent their being purloined, and 



in this manner, perhaps, it would be 
more correct to interpret the catenata 
taberna in Juv. iii. 304, which Eu- 
perti explains by catenis firmata. 

'" Effugere EomcB non est basia- 
tiones, is the ejaculation of Martial, 
xi. 98, who censures this very dis- 
agreeable habit in several humorous 
epigrams. Not merely at the salu- 
tatio, but at every meeting in the 
street, a person was exposed to a 
number of kisses, not only from near 
acquaintance, but from every one who 
desired to show his attachment, among 
whom there were often mouths not so 
clean as they might be. Martial, xii. 
59, says of one who had returned to 
Eome after long absence : 
Te vicinia tota, te pilosus 
Hircoso premit osculo colonus. 
Hinc instat tibi textor, inde fullo, 
Hinc sutor modo pelle basiata, 
Hinc menti dominus pediculosi, &c. 

The misanthrope Tiberius, who 
wished himself not to be humbled by 
this custom, issued an edict against 
it (Suet. Tib. 34), but it does not ap- 
pear to have done much good, as the 



Scene IV.] 



THE JOURNEY. 



47 



which of late had begun to prevail, but escaped with a 
simple salutation, which was still quite troublesome enough, 
for, from every side resounded an ave to be responded 
to, and frequently from the mouths of persons for whom 
even the nomenclatov in his hurry had only an invented 
name ready ^^ 

The train having at last succeeded in safely winding 
its way through all impediments to the Porta Capena, 
passed under an antique-looking arch, on the moist stones 
of which great drops from the aqueduct which was carried 
over it ^^, were always hanging. At a short distance from 



custom continued ; in winter only it 
was improper to annoy another with 
one's cold lips, on which the same 
poet also gives us a jocular epigram 
(vii. 95) : 

Bruma est, et riget horridus December, 
Audes tu tarnen osculo nivali 
Omnes obvins bine et bine tenere 
Et totam. Line, basiare Romam. 

He does not give a very much over- 
drawn picture when he says, Livida 
naribus caninis dependet glacies ; 
and thence concludes with this ex- 
hortation : 

Hibemas, Line, basiationes 

In mensem rogo differas Aprilem. 

Cf. Lips, de Oscidis et Osculandi, ii. 6. 
'1 This actually took place, as is 
testified by Seneca, de Benef. i. 3: 
Quemadmodum nomenclatori memo- 
rice loco audacia est, et cuicicnqtce 
nomen non potest reddere, iraponit. 
So also Epist. 27 : Vetus nomencla- 
tor, qui nomina non rcddit, sed im- 
fonit. 

'2 The Porta Capena in the first 
region, between the Ardeatina and 
Latina, led to Capua, and it is the 
most natural to deduce its name from 
thence, and the more so, as the Ar- 
deatina and Tihurtina derived their 



names from the towns arrived at by 
their means. In Juven. iii. 10, it is 
called the moist gate : 

Substitit ad .veteres arcus, madidamque Ca- 
penam. 

and the Scholiast remarks thereupon : 
ideo quia supra earn aqucB ductus est, 
quern nunc appellant arcum stillan- 
ttm. Ruperti is wrong therefore in 
saying, Alii portam rectius ita die- 
tarn putant a jontihus, qui ihi erant, 
unde et Fontinalis vocahatur ; for 
how can we refer the passage in Mar- 
tial, iii. 4:7, 

Capena grandi porta qua pluit gutta, 
to the fountains in the -vicinity ? We 
have the similar designation (iv. 18) 
where a boy has been killed by the 
fall of an icicle : 

Qua vicina pluit Vipsanis poii;a columnis 
Et madet assiduo lubricus imbre lapis. 

The Portions Vipsana may have been 
near the Porta Capena, or another 
gate may be meant (Comp. Donat. 
de TIrh. Bom. iii. 17. In Horace, 
Epist. i. 6, 26, two especial prome- 
nades are placed together by a mere 
chance, but it is uncertain whether 
the Columnse Vipsanae were the well- 
known Portions Agrippae) ; but at all 
events the icicle has nothing to do 
with the fountains, and if a Porta 



1 



48 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV. 



hence, by the sanctuary of the Camcense, were waiting the 
carriages, consisting of a light covered rheda drawn by 
Gallic palfreys, and two petorrita likewise provided with 
fast horses, for the slower pace of the mule was incom- 
patible with the plan of the journey, according to which 
the travellers were to avail themselves of the next night 
to pass through the Pontine marshes. 

Grallus mounted the elegantly-built rheda. It was not, 
it is true, a state vehicle with gilded wheels, and rich silver 
mountings, still the body was ornamented with beautifully 
wrought foliage in bronze, and Medusa's heads of the same 
metal peeped from the centres of the wheels. The hood 
of leather served as a protection against the hot rays of 
the mid-day sun, whilst the purple hangings, being fast- 
ened back, admitted an agreeable current of cool air. 
Beside Grallus, on the left of his master ^^, the faithful 
Chresimus took his place ; but the seats which on other 
occasions were occupied by the notarii, who committed 
to writing the chance thoughts of their master ^"^^ remained 
empty. The servants seated themselves in the less fash- 
ionable petorrita, a couple of Numidian riders vaulted 
on to their light steeds, and started off in advance, whilst 
runners, girt up high, flying along before the carriage, 
emulated the speed of the swift palfreys. 

Thus whirled the light vehicle at a sharp trot, past 
the sanctuary of Mars Extra-urbanus, and between the 
numerous sepulchral monuments ^'^ along the queen of 



was pluens, it might still be the Ca- 
pena ; on the contrary, we might ra- 
ther fancy a similitude with the meta 
siida7is, were there not other grounds 
against it. Cf. Frontin. de Äqiccsd. 
19. 

'^ Lipsius {Ekcf. ii. 2) has shown 
that the right hand was the place of 
honour among the Eomans; in the 
Capitoline Temple, and in the assem- 
blies of the gods, Minerva took this 



place, Hor. Od. i. 12, 19 : proximos 
Uli occupavit ^' — "" 



^* That this sometimes happened, 
follows from Seneca, Epist. 72, Qucb- 
dam enim sunt quce possis et in cisio 
scribere ; but this is explicitly rela- 
ted of the elder Pliny. Plin. Ejpist. 
iii, 5. Cf. Plut. Gas. 17. 

'^ On the custom of placing the 
tombs on the great roads, see the Ex- 



Scene IV.] 



THE JOUENEY. 



49 



roads, which, paved with slabs skilfully joined so as to 
form, as it were, one stony band, offered no obstruction 
to the easy rolling of the wheels. G-allus was in the most 
cheerful humour. The everlasting bustle and monotony 
of the restless metropolis lay behind him, and before him 
was the expectation of days of peaceful enjoyment in the 
bosom of nature decked out in all the charms of spring, 
and in the undisturbed pursuit of studies refreshing to the 
mind, which the visits of friends in the neighbourhood, or 
from Eome, would only pleasantly interrupt. Lycoris too 
must soon arrive at the bath, and the bliss of requited 
love be even enhanced by the attraction of new scenes. 

Chresimus was in a less joyful mood. Grallus had 
caused a tomb to be erected on the left-hand side of the 
Appian Way, and the faithful old domestic had not failed 
to observe, in passing by, how a crow, which had been 
disturbed by the outriders, had settled upon the cipjpus of 
the monument and cawed hoarsely. ^^ This occurrence fell 
the heavier on the old man's heart, because an evil omen 
had already made him distrustful of the result of the 
journey. As he turned, before ascending the carriage, to 
the altar of the lar vialis, to invoke good luck and pro- 
tection during the short journey, a black viper had sud- 
denly shot across the street with the speed of an arrow,^^ 
— a sufficient cause for entirely giving up the journey, 



cursus on The Tombs. On the Via 
Appia they were very numerous. It 
is only necessary to remember what 
Cicero, Tusc. i. 7, says : Ä7i tucgres- 
sus porta Capena, cum Calatlni, 
Scipionum, Serviliorum, Metellorum, 
sepulchra vides, miseros putas illos ? 
The Columbarium lib. et serv. LivicB 
Augustce, and many others, were also 
there. 

'^ It is well known how much 
the ancients regarded such omens. 



Among the apparitions which could 
deter a person from prosecuting a 
journey, Horace names the crow, 
Od. iii. 27, 16, with which compare 
the passage from Virg. Eel. i. 18 : — 

Ssepe sinistra cava preedixit ab ilice comix. 

^^ This warning before a journey 
is also mentioned by Horace in the 
Ode just referred to : — 

Rumpat et serpens iter institutum, 
Si per obliquum similis sagittae 
Terruit mannos. 



50 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV. 



had Gallus been a believer in the significancy of such 
signs. He did not however appear to perceive the old 
man's dejection, but talked much of the alterations he 
was about to effect at the villa, and of his intended pur- 
chase of a neighbouring estate, and mentioned with much 
pleasure the rich vintage which the vineyards on the two 
properties would yield him ; taking no heed the while of 
the prophetic warning, which the domestic involuntarily 
uttered, 'That between the cup and the lip there hung 
many a chance.' ^^ 

The tenth mile-stone and the small hamlet of Bovillae,^^ 
where the traveller usually made his first halt, were soon 
reached ; but it was too early for Grallus to stop, and 
moreover, the poverty of the place was anything but 
inviting, therefore, although the hour for breakfast was 
long gone by, the travellers continued their journey five 
milliaria further, to the more important little town of 
Aricia. There they witnessed a strange scene. On the hill 
outside the town, a troop of filthy beggars, their nudity 
only half covered with rags,^^ had taken up their station, 
to tax the benevolence of the numerous passers-by, and 



^^ The beautiful Greek proverb, 
HoXka fiera^v TreAei kvAikos koI x^'- 

\eos &Kpov, 
was rendered somewhat more prosai- 
cally by the less refined Komans : 
Inter os et offain multa intervenire 
])ossunt. See Gell. xiii. 17. 

'^ Jjovilla, at the tenth mile- 
stone ; according to Gell's Topo- 
grafhy of Borne, beyond the twelfth ; 
and to the scholiast on Pers. vi. 55, 
at the eleventh. But Gell's suppo- 
sition rests on the presumption that 
in Plutarch, Coriol. 29, B^AAas 1:6- 
hiv oh TTAei'ous araViovs eaaTOV ott- 
4xov(rav ttjs 'Vwfj.rjs, is to be read, 
BoiAAay. It might appear odd that 
the place is called by the poets sub- 



tirbcmics. Ovid. Fast. iii. 667 : — 

Orta suburbanis quiedam fuit Anna Bo- 
villis. 

Prop. iv. 1, 33 :— 

Quippe suburbanas parva minus urbe Bo- 
villiB : 

but it has already been remarked, on 
Flor. i. 11, that Tibur was just in 
like manner termed suburhanum. 

^'^ Whether this society of beggars 
was to be found in the time of Gallus 
at Aricia, the town situated at about 
the sixth milestone, and celebrated 
for the grove of Diana, I will not 
venture to determine. Juven. iv, 117, 
Dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes, 
mentions them, and Martial often, 
as where he says of a family chang- 



Scene IV.] 



THE JOURNEY. 



51 



by their daily earnings of polenta, peas, and vinegar-water, 
to drag on a miserable yet idle existence. Grallus was al- 
ready well acquainted with the importunity of these worthy 
prototypes of the lazaroni and lepros, who now hastily 
hurrying down the hill, surrounded the carriage and voci- 
ferously demanded alms. Chresimus had in consequence to 
distribute a bagful of coins among the dirty crew, who 
thereupon retreated lazily to their lair, or cast a servile 
kiss of the hand to the rlieda, as it sped quickly towards 
the town.^^ 

In the neighbourhood of Aricia there was many a villa, 
and in the town itself more than one house, where Grallus 
would have been received as a welcome guest. On this 
occasion, however, he intended to make his stay as brief as 
possible, and therefore preferred passing at an inn, of not 
very superior accommodation, the short time during which 
the unharnessed horses^''^ were allowed their rest at a crib- 



ing its abode, and carrying its dirty 

chattels : 

Migrare cliTum crederes Aricinum. 

So the father of Lselia is called, x. 68, 
Durus Aricina de regione pater ; 

ii. 19, alludes to this, 

Aricino conviva recumbere clivo ; 

and in a similar sense he wishes an 

indiscreet poet, x. 5, 3, 

Erreb per urbem pontis exsul et clivi, 
Interque raucos vdtimus rogatores 
Oret caninas panis improbi buccas. 

On the above-mentioned passage of 
Juvenal, the scholiast remarks : Qui 
ad portam Äricinam, sive ad cJivum 
mendicaret inter JudcBos, qui ad 
Ariciam transierant ex urbe missi. 
Nevertheless in none of the passages 
is there any hint that only Jews or 
Christians (who are also to be imder- 
stood under this name) are meant ; 
on the contrary, the clivi are desig- 
nated as the haunts of beggars gene- 
rally. Yet the frequent mention of 
the beggars at the clivus Aricinus as 



Kom an beggars, is sufficiently strange, 
if we are really to suppose it to have 
been at Aricia, fifteen miles from 
Rome, and it would almost appear 
that in Rome itself there was a place 
of this name. Besides, the beggars 
chiefly haunted the bridges (see Ru- 
perti ad JuvcnÄY. 116, xiv. 134), and 
the gates. Plaut. Capt. i. 1, 21 — 

Ire extra portam trigeminam aJ saccum 
licet ; 

and Trin. ii. 4, 21— 

Pol opinor affinis rata sedes vendidit. 

Pater cum f ereque veniet, in porta est locus. 

^* So I understand the words of 
Juvenal, iv. 118, which follow im- 
mediately the above quoted : — 

Blandaque devexse jactaret basiarhedas. 
It is the token of gratitude that the 
beggar sends after the carriiige from 
which he has received alms. 

22 Interjimgere is the proper ex- 
pression when one unyoked the ani- 
mals at noon, or any other time, to 



e2 



52 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV. 



ful of provender. Little as he might reckon on getting a 
decent repast in such a place, still he thought it the more 
advisable to take his prandiuTYi there, although late in the 
day, as the dirty sailors' pot-houses in Forum Appii promised 
a far worse meal at night; and in fact the table proved 
better than the exterior of the inn betokened. The freshly- 
boiled lacertce, encircled with a string of eggs and rue, 
looked quite inviting: the plump fowl and the still uncut 
ham of yesterday, which, with asparagus, the never-failing 
lactuca, and the more celebrated porrum, muscles of the 
peloridce kind, but no oysters from the Lucrine lake, pre- 
sented, it is true, a poor recompense for the breakfast with 
Lentulus, which he had deserted, but still aiforded one which 
exceeded his expectations. The wine could not conceal its 
Vatican extraction, although the landlord had mixed it with 
some old Falernian, and the mulsum was decidedly pre- 
pared with Corsican honey ; the service was only from the 
hand of a common potter; but who could desire more in such 
a place ! It was the company who at the time happened 
to be in the humble tavern, and amused themselves with 
coarse jokes and loud laughter, or abused and bullied the 
host, that made his stay not very pleasant. As soon there- 
fore as the horses had had an hour's rest, Gallus again 
started, proposing to perform the far longer journey from 
thence to Forum Appii without further halt. 

Quickly as the rheda rolled beyond Aricia, past Tres 
Tabernse to the low grounds, yet the sun was already set, 
and single stars began to be visible in the darkening 
heaven before the travellers arrived at Forum Appii. '^^ 



allow them to take rest, and for bait. 
Mart. iii. 67, 6 :— 

Exarsitque dies, et hora lassos 
Interjungit equos meridiana. 

So also, ii. 6, 16 : — 

Et cum currere debeas Bovillas, 
Inter jüngere qugeris ad Camcenas. 

23 Forum Appii, a little town 



about forty-three milliaria from 
Eome, where the Pontine marshes had 
already commenced, and from whence 
there went, besides the road, a canal 
of about fifteen milliaria in length, 
nearly to Terracina, or Anxur. Strabo, 
V. 6: HXriaioi/ Se rrjs TappaK.ivT)S 
ßaSi^ovTL iir] ttjs 'Pw/xtjs, irapaße' 
ßKiqrai rp oScjj t?7 'Attttio Ziwpv^ 



Scene IY.] 



THE JOÜKNEY. 



53 



Here the road, which had entered the Pontine marshes 
for several noilliaria, became more unpleasant, especially 
on warm summer-days, when the exhalations from the 
marshes poisoned the air. On this account they usually 
preferred travelling in the cool of the evening by the 
canal made by the side of the road, as far as the temple 
of Feronia, which lay on the other side of the marshes. 
Such was also the plan of Grallus, and for this reason the 
horses had been forced to step along briskly, as it was 
two and forty miles from Eome to this place. ^^ But it 
was not at all disagreeable to him that no longer stay was 
necessary in this wretched little place, full of miserable 
taverns frequented by sailors.^^ The exterior of the lame 
and disproportionately fat landlady, in shape not much 
unlike a wine-cask,^*^ who approached him in the catipo7ia, 
as well as the disgusting taste of the impure water,^'' made 



eTTi TToWovs tSttovs TrXr\povfxivT] rots 
kXeiois re Koi rots iroTafxois vdacTi, 
TrAetrai Se ixaKiara uvKTwp, cöar' 
iKßävras icp' eairepas iKßaiveiv 
irpwias Kol ßa^L(€iv rh Xotirbv rfj 
'Airina.. So Horace, as we know, 
made his journey to Brundusium, 
Sat. i. 5, from which the description 
here given of the night voyage is 
mainly taken. 

2* The rapidity with which Gallus 
performed the journey to Forum 
Appii, is at least not exaggerated: 
to that place it was forty-two or forty- 
three Koman miles, seventy-five of 
which go to a degree, or five to the 
geographical mile, therefore it could 
be done with ease in ten hours. Far 
more considerable is the speed with 
which Capito travelled from Eome 
to Ameria, to convey the news of 
the murder of Roscius. Cic. p. Eosc. 
Am. 7. Cum post horam jprimam 
noctis occisus esset, jprimo diluculo 
nuncius hie Ameriam venit. Decem 



horis nocturnis (the short hours of a 
summer-night) sex et qidnquaginta 
millia passuum cisiis pervolavit. 
Horace too says, that for a good 
walker, it was one's day's journey 
from Eome to Forum Appii. 

^^ By sailors are here to be under- 
stood the barge-men, who forwarded 
the travellers along the canal : the 
great number of them employed, and 
the numerous travellers who must 
necessarily have stopped there, caused 
so many inns. 

2*5 There might have been in many 
cauponcB very tolerable hostesses ; but 
for an Appian sailor's pot-house, such 
a figure as Harpax describes, Plaut. 
Pseud, ii. 2, 64, will not be unfitting : 

Ego devertor extra portam hue in tabernam 

tertiam, 
Apud anum illamdoliarein,cludam,crassami 

Chrj-sidem. 

^^ The Via Appia generally was 
not provided with good water. 



54 



GALLÜS. 



[Scene IV- 



him determine to let the prandium in Aricia compensate 
for his evening meal also, and to content himself with 
some bread and bad wine. Meanwhile Chresimus had been 
busy about a boat, but could not obtain one that would 
take them without other passengers ; for there was never 
any lack of travellers there, and no one willingly made 
the journey alone through the marshes, which were not 
unfrequently rendered insecure by footpads who infested 
them.^** Nearly an hour in consequence was lost, during 
which the boatman interchanged rough words with the 
slaves of the travellers, who would not allow the bark to 
be overloaded as he wished ; he afterwards collected the 
passengers' fare, and having lazily yoked his mule which 
had to tow the bark on the causeway made alongside,^^ 
the passage at last began. The banks were lined with 
willows, interspersed here and there with an alder, around 
the roots of which tall plants of the fern species waved to 
and fro, moved slightly by the night-breeze, and above 
them, on the natural festoons made by the creepers, rocked 
the glow-worm. The stars shining brighter and brighter 
from above invited the travellers to repose, but the 
troublesome gnats, which the morass generated in myriads, 
and the croaking of the lively frogs, scared away the quiet 
god. Besides which the boatman and one of the travellers, 



Horace, i. 5, 7, says of Forum Appii, 
propter aquam, quod erat teterrima, 
■ventri mdico bellum : and farther on 
there was also a similar want. At 
Eqiiotutmm and Canusium water 
"was a regular article of commerce, as 
also at Kavenna, where an innkeeper 
cheated Martial, and instead of the 
wine and water, mixtum, which the 
poet demanded, gave him merum. 
See Mart. iii. 5%, 57. 

2^ The roads of Italy were gene- 
rally disturbed by numberless high- 
waymen, grassatores ; but the whole 
distance from the Pontine marshes 



to the sea-coast was particularly in- 
fested by bands of these depredators, 
the loneliness of the vicinity affording 
them a secure retreat. It was on this 
account sometimes occupied by trooj^s, 
in order to expel the robbers, who, 
however, only went elsewhere, and 
even to Rome itself. Juven. iii. 305 : 
Interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit 

rem, 
Armato quoties tutae custode tenentur 
Et Pontina palus et Gallinaria pinus. 

"^^ The whole description, — the 
convicia, the nauta cbs exigens, (he 
mcdi culices, the rants palustres, — is 
borrowed from Horace. 



Scene IY.] 



THE JOURNEY. 



55 



both drunk with the sour wine of the Appian inn, were 
alternately singing the praises of their maidens left be- 
hind.^° At last, however, weariness closed the eyes of all 
the passengers; the boat became more and more tranquil, 
and no sooner did the bargeman perceive that all were 
asleep, than he tethered his mule fast to a stone, in order 
that it might graze in the tall marshy grass, and laid him- 
self also down to sleep off his intoxication. The day would 
probabl}^ have broken before his lazy limbs had returned 
to life, had not one who slept less soundly than the rest 
become aware of the boat stopping still, and jumped up to 
belabour, in his wrath, the head and loins of the boatman 
and his mule with his willow cudgel. Thus it was not till 
the middle of the second hour that the travellers arrived at 
the other side of the marshes not far from the temple of 
Feronia,^^ and washed their hands and faces in the sacred 
fountain of the goddess. The carriages had remained be- 
hind at Forum Appii, so that our travellers went on foot 
the three niilliaria to Terracina, which, placed on a pre- 
cipitous rock, looked down upon the low grounds. There 
was now no further need of such expedition as they had 
used the day before, yet Gallus determined to proceed, and 
though there was no lack of carriages at Terracina, which 
their owners offered him on hire, he preferred travelling 



^' Ahsentem ut canted amicam 
Multa 'proliitus vappa nauta atqtie 
viator. Hor. i. 5, 15. How Heindorf 
ever could explain viator ' the driver 
of the mule, who went beside the 
boat, ' is inconceivable ! Such a 
driver there is none, but the single 
boatman, necessary for guiding the 
bark along the canal, manages it, as 
we see from the verses which follow, 
when he fastens the mule, and lays 
himself down to sleep. The viator 
is the traveller, who is also on board 
the bark, and not a mule-di-iver. 



^' The Temple of Feronia lay, 
according to 0. Müller and Böttiger, 
quite close to the further end of the 
canal ; for Horace, i, 5, 23, says, 
without mentioning any further con- 
tinuation of the journey, quarta vix 
demum exponimur hora. Ora ma- 
nusque tua lavimus Feronia lympha. 
Washing the face and hands after a 
night journey is so natural, that it is 
not requisite either to refer it to a 
preparation for the prandium, nor to 
suppose that it took place religionis 
causa. 



56 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IV, 



the uneven road before him on mules, which were soon 
standing saddled and ready for starting. 

Nearly half the journey ^^ had thus been performed in 
less than twenty-four hours. To the second half two days 
were allotted, and a courier was despatched in advance to 
announce that Gallus would arrive to breakfast with a 
friend who lived between Terracina and Fundi, when he 
hoped to partake of a better repast than he had the day 
before. He proposed also to spend the night at another 
friend's house in Formise, whence he could the next day 
get comfortably before the evening meal, by way of Min- 
turnse and Sinuessa, to the Campanian bridge,^^ near which 
lay his villa, sideways from the road, in the direction of 
the Auruncan hills. 



^2 The distance of the road from 
Rome to Terracina, amounted, pro- 
bably, to sixty-one miles, and the 
whole distance from Rome to Capua, 
is reckoned at 134 miles. 

^^ The Campanian bridge, nine 



miUiaria beyond Sinuessa, led over 
the small river Savo, and was called 
Campanian, because the territory of 
Campania, to which it formed as it 
were the entrance, began beyond 
Sinuessa, which was tbe last town of 
Latium. 



SCENE THE FIFTH. 



THE VILLA. 



IT was in the most charming situation of the Falernian 
land,^ so highly favoured by nature, that Gallus had 
some years before purchased an extensive estate, which both 
yielded an abundant agricultural produce, and offered at 
all seasons the enjoyments of country life in superfluity. 
The road which beyond the Campanian bridge, leaving 
the Appian Way to the right, turned towards the stream 
of the Savo,^ led for miles through pleasant woodland and 
forests, which, now contracting the breadth of the road to 
that of a narrow path, shaded the traveller with lofty pop- 
lars and elms, and then, retreating farther off, drew a dark 
circlet round the luxuriant green meadows, or at another 
time became interrupted for a while, and then opened a 
prospect towards the Auruncan hills on the left ; whilst to 
the right were discovered the small towns lying at short 
intervals from each other on the Appian Way. 



^ The ager Falernus : Dives ea et 
nunquam tellus mentlta colono, Sil. 
Ital. vii. 160, was the most fruitful 
part of the Camjpaniafelix, celebrated 
for its wine, reputed to be, next to 
the Csecuban, the best of all those of 
Italy, until the caprice of Augustus 
gave the preference to the Setinian. 
The Falernian land reached from the 
foot of Mons Massicus, lying above 
Sinuessa, or, more correctly speaking, 
from the Campanian bridge, being 
bounded on the left by the Via Ap- 
pia, and on the other side by the 
little river Savo, as far as Casilinum 
and the Via Latina, which led across 
from Cales to the Appian Way. Plm. 
xiv. 6, 8, says expressly: Falernus 
ager a ponte Campano Iceva petenti- 
hus urbammi incipit ; and Liv. xxii. 



15 : Quum satis sciret, per easdem 
angustias, quibus intraverat Faler- 
num agrum, rediturum ; Calliculavi 
niontem et Casilinum occupat modicis 
pr(ssidiis ; qiccs urbs Vidtiirno flu- 
mine diremta Falernum et Campa- 
num agros dividit. It is here as- 
sumed that the estate was situated 
on both sides of the Savo, the regular 
villa rustica in the Falernian terri- 
tory, the other one on the right 
bank, towards the Auruncan hills 
{Rocca Monfina). 

^ The Savo [Saone or Savone), 
a small river, rising not far from 
Teanum, is called by Stat. Silv. iv. 
3, 66, piger Savo, in consequence of 
its inconsiderable fall. 



58 



GALLUS. 



[Scene V. 



The broad champaign belonging to the villa was inter- 
sected by the Savo, and reached on the one side nearly to 
the Via Appia, and on the other to the vine-clad hills, 
along which wound the road from Sinnessa to Teanum. 
The whole property was formed from the conjunction of 
two estates, and might still be considered as such, as they 
were remote from each other ; and at almost opposite ex- 
tremities lay the buildings designed for agricultural pur- 
poses, and the villa built in the city fashion.^ At the 
former there was no space subservient only to the pleasures 
and vanity of the possessor, and entailing on him at the 
same time a fund of useless expense : no idle plantations 
of jplatani and laurels, no hedges of box clipped into shapes, 
no splendid country-house with its endless colonnades. The 
simple abode of the villicus,^ at the entrance of the first 



^ A distinction was made between 
the villa rustica, properly so called, 
and the pscudo-urbana (Vitr. vi. 8), 
and some houses were built for one 
of these purposes only, whilst others 
served for both. Of the latter, Co- 
lumella, i. 6, says : Modus autem 
membrorumqice numerus aptetur uni- 
verso consepto, et dividatur in tres 
partes, urbanam, rusticam, et fruc- 
tuariam. By the last he means 
store-houses for oil, wine, grain, 
hay, &c. 

* The plan of a villa rustica is 
prescribed at length by Varro, Vi- 
truvius, and Columella ; but the di- 
rections given by the last author ma- 
terially differ from those of the two 
former, particularly as regards the 
store-chambers. The general plan is 
as follows : The villa must have had 
two courts {cohortes, chortes, cortes), 
Varr, i. 13. At the entrance to the 
fixst or outer one, was the abode of 
the villicus, in order that he might 
know who went in and out (Yarro, 



ibid. Col. i. 6, 6) ; also the great 
common kitchen, where the slaves 
congregated, and where in winter- 
time different avocations were pur- 
sued by the fire-side. Vitr. vi. 9 : 
In corte cidina quam calidissimo loco 
designetur. Varro, supra : In primis 
cidina videnda ut sit admota (villici 
cellse) quod ibi hicme antelucanis tem- 
poribus aliquot res conficiiontur, cibus 
paratur ac capitur. Col. magna et 
alia culina paretur. Near this were 
the bath-rooms (Vitr. sect. 2), and 
also the wine and oil-press {tor- 
cular), according to Vitruvius. On 
the contrary, Columella says, sect. 18 : 
Torcidaria pracipue cellcBque olearicB 
calidm esse debent. Sed ut colore 
naturali opits est, qui contingit posi- 
tione cceli et declinatione, ita non 
opus est ignihus aut flammis : quo- 
niamfumo et fidigine sapor olei cor- 
rumpitur, and for this reason will not 
even allow lamps to be employed in 
the labour of pressing. The cellcB 
olearice and vinarice also must have 
been here : the former towards the 



Scene V.] 



THE VILLA. 



59 



court, had nothing attractive to the eye ; but so much the 
more pleasing was the aspect within of the cellce close to 
one another, which contained the rich stores of oil and 
wine ; while above them on the first floor, the blessings of 
Ceres which were piled up, testified the fertility of the soil. 
It was pleasant to see how the returning herds and teams 
assembled round the broad water-troughs of the inner 



south, the latter towards the north ; 
hut both of them upon the ground- 
floor. Varro : Fructibus {humidis), 
ut est vinum et oleum, loco piano po- 
tius cellas faciundum. Col. 9 : ex iis 
(eellis) qi((S sunt in piano custodiam 
recipiant humidarum rerum tanquam 
vini olei venalium. Hirt, in his de- 
scription of the plan of a villa, says, 
* Under the cook's dwelling-rooras are 
the cellars for pressing the olives,' 
&c. ; and ' under the apartments of 
the villicus are the wine-cellars ; ' 
but we find it difficult to say whe- 
ther the kitchen and dwelling-rooms 
may be considered as placed in the 
second story, or whether the wine- 
cellar was entirely, or half, under- 
ground — a thing unheard of amongst 
the ancients. Columella places the 
ergastulum only under ground, sect. 
3 : Vinctis quam saluherrimum sub- 
terraneum ergastulum plurimis idque 
avgustis illustratum fenestris atque 
a terra sic editis, ne manu contingi 
possint. Such receptacles Hirt seems 
to have had in his mind, as he sets 
them down with windows towards the 
north. They might have been only 
air-holes of the cellars. But such 
Celles were not in piano, and such a 
means of preservation is very unusual 
in olden times.— Dried fruits and pro- 
vender were preserved under ground, 
in tabidatis. Varr. Col. : Granaria 
sublimata disponantur. Vitrii. 
Columella assumes a special Villa 



fructuaria, and transfers thither the 
oil and wine stores also (sect. 9), but 
Vitruvius only places things danger- 
ous in case of fire outside the villa, 
sect. 5 : Horrea, fcunilia, farraria, 
pistrina, extra villam facienda vi- 
dentur,ut ab ignis pericido sint villß 
tutiores. In Varro all the stores are 
in the villa itself. 

The cells of the slaves, which must 
have been elsewhere besides in the 
outer court, were preferred situated 
to the south. Col. sect. 3 : Optime 
solutis servis cellce meridiem cequi- 
noctialem spectantes fient. What 
Varro says agrees with this : Familia 
ubi versetur providendum, si fessi 
opere aut frigore aut calore, et ubi 
commodissime possint se quiete reci- 
perare. It is best to suppose that the 
stalls, bubilia, equilia, ovilia, were 
around the inner court, although Vi- 
truvius would have them to be near 
the kitchen. Both courts must have 
had water-cisterns in the centre, and 
the inner one a spring also for water- 
ing cattle, Var. sect. 3 : Boves enim 
ex arvo cestate reducti'hic bibunt, hie 
perfunduntur ; nee mimes e pabulo 
cum redierunt anseres, sues, porci ; 
the outer one another for steeping 
fruits in, ubi maceretur lupinum, item 
alia, qu(B demista in aquam ad usum 
aptiora fiunt. These are the most 
important particulars which Varro, 
Vitruvius, and Cokimella give us 
respecting the Villa rustica. 



60 



GALLUS. 



[Scene V. 



court to drink, whilst geese and ducks merrily splashing 
about, suffered themselves to be laved by the descending 
jet of the simply-constructed fountain. All around the 
court were swarms of various kinds of poultry.^ Peacocks 
with their wide-expanded tails, red-feathered flamingos, 
Numidian ^ and Khodian '' hens with their own brood, or 
performing not less tenderly the office of foster-mothers to 
young pheasants,® the eggs of which had been stealthily 



^ The cors of a Roman villa was 
doubtless very different from our 
farm -yards, where, with the exceptiorf 
of hens, turkeys, and ducks, there is 
seldom any other bird, unless it be 
some solitary peacock, stalking about 
with his hens. The Roman hen- 
yard displayed a more varied sight, 
and the breeding of peacocks, for ex- 
ample, was a special object of atten- 
tion. For, after this bird of Juno, 
whose brilliant plumage and insipid 
flavour pointed it out as only created 
for show, was first introdiiced by 
Hortensius from Samos, and used to 
increase the splendour of the banquet 
(Varr. R. R. iii. 6, 6 ; Plin. x. 20, 
23; Macrob. Sat. ii. 9), this insane 
luxury soon became general, so that 
even the temperate Cicero made no 
exception. Ad Fam. ix. 18, 20 ; see 
Hor. Sat. i. 2, 1 1 5 ; ii. 2, 23. And hence 
in Varro's time an egg cost 5 denarii, 
a peacock 50, a flock of 100 hens 
40,000 HS., and supposing each of 
these had on an average three young 
ones, this would bring in 60,000 HS. ; 
and M. Aufidius Lucro, who first at- 
tempted to fatten them, gained from 
this enterprise a yearly income of 
60,000 HS. Colum. viii. 11, Pallad. 
i. 28, treat especially of the breeding 
of them. 

^ It is doubtful what is to be un- 



derstood by the term Numidian hens. 
Columella says (viii. 2, 2), Afri- 
cana est, quam jplerique Numidicam 
dicunt, Meleagridi similis, nisi quod 
rutilam galeam et cristam capite 
gerit, quce utraque sunt in Melea- 
gride coertdea ; but Varro, iii. 9, and 
Plin. X. 26, 38, call the meleagrides, 
gibherce, and in Mart. iii. 58, they 
are NumidiccB guttata; hence it is 
concluded, that our guinea-fowls {ßu- 
mida meJcagris, Linn.) are meant, 
but their galea is not red, but blue, 
while the comb is red. Perhaps thei 
guinea-fowls are a variety of both. 

' Rhodian hens, a particularly 
large species, which, like the Taua- 
grian (Paus. ix. 22, 4), were kept for 
their pugnacity. See, on the subject 
of cock-fights, Becker's Char ides, 
English edition, p. 64, n. 6 ; p. 193. 
Colum. viii. 2, 5, prefers the native 
species ; sect. 12 : Rhodii generis aut 
Medici propter gravitatem ncque 
patres niviis solaces, nee foecunda 
onatres. They are mentioned by Mar- 
tial, iii. 58, 17, in the villa of Fausti- 
nus, which he calls a rus verum. 

^ It does not appear clear how it 
was possible to keep pheasants in the 
farm-yard, for, according to our expe- 
rience, they never become thoroughly 
domesticated, but return to their free 



Scene V.] 



THE VILLA. 



61 



placed under them to hatch, by the stewardj^all collected 
cackling and coaxing round the steward's wife, who scat- 
tered food among them from the lap of her gown. A 
brood of doves ^ too would ever and anon make a descent 
in the midst from the tower-like pigeon-cots, whilst turtle 



natxiral haiuits as soon as they are 
iinconfined. Yet Palladius speaks 
(i. 29) of the breeding of them, as 
fowls in the yard, and Martial re- 
counts among the poultry that ran 
about the villa of Faustinus, the 
impiorum phasiana Colchorum. It 
is perhaps best explained by what 
Columella says, riii. 10, 6 : Atque 
ea genera, quce intra septa villcB ci- 
bantur (gallinse, columbse, turtures, 
turdi) fere persecuti sumus : nunc 
de his dkendum est, quibus etiam 
exitus ad agrestia pabula dantur. 
Among the latter we may perhaps 
reckon, besides the peacocks and 
guinea-fowls, the pheasants also. 
Palladius recommends that the eggs 
should be hatched by hens. 

^ The taste for beautiful pigeons, 
carried almost to a passion, is not pe- 
culiar to modern times ; the ancients 
also indulged in it. Plin. x. 37, 43, 
says : Et harum amore insaniunt 
multi ; super tecta excedificant tur- 
res Us, nohilitatemque singularum et 
origines narrant, vetere jam exem- 
plo. L. Axius, eques Eomanus, ante 
bellum civile Fompcianum denariis 
quadringentis singula paria vendi- 
tavit, ut M. Varro tradit. The pas- 
sage of Varro is, iii. 7, 10 : Paren- 
tes eoritm Eomw, si sunt formosi, 
bono colore, integri, honi seminis, 
paria singula vulgo veneunt ducenis 
nummis, nee non eximia singidis 
millibus nummum, quas nuper cum 
mercator tanti emere vellet a L. Axio, 
equite Bom., minor is quadringentis 



denariis daturum negavit. And this 
happened in the time of Varro, seve- 
rioribus teraporibus, as Columella 
says. In the time of the latter this 
extravagance was carried much far- 
ther, viii. 8,10: 2s am nostri pudet 
seculi, si credere volwnus, hiveniri 
qui quaternis millihus nummum bi- 
nas aves mercentur. There were 
two chief sorts : wild doves and house 
doves. Varr. sect. 1 : Duo enim gene- 
ra in TrepiiTTepoTpocpeit^ esse solent. 
Unum agreste, ut alii dicunt, saxa- 
tile, quod habetur in turribus ac co- 
luminibus villcB — alter urn genus illud 
columbarum est cle'mentius, quod cibo 
domestico contentum intra liminaja- 
nu(B solet pasci. The pigeon-houses 
or cots,were built like turrets, on the 
highest points of the villa(Col.viii.8); 
according to Pallad. i. 24, in prcs- 
torio, i.e. above the mansion. The 
walls, both inside and out, were paint- 
ed of a bright white colour, which 
the doves liked. Col. sect. 4 ; Pall, ; 
Ovid. Trist, i. 9, 7, refers to this :— 

Aspicis ut veniant ad Candida tecta co- 
lumbee, 
Accipiat nullas sordida turns aves ? 

The number of pigeons kept must 
have been immense. Varro says, sect. 
2, in uno (irepiffrepoTpocpeiü}) scspe 
vel quinque millia sunt inclusa. That 
carrier-pigeons were also known to the 
ancients,is shown by Pliny,x. 37, 53 : 
Quin et internuntice in rebus magnis 
fuere, epistolas annexas earum pe- 
dibus obsidione Mutinensi in castra 
consulum Decimo Bruto mittente. 



62 



GALLüS. 



[Scene V. 



and ring-doves ^°, caught at great pains, together with a 
multitude of fieldfares, were to be seen confined in par- 
ticular pens where they were fed. 

Not less pleasing was the sight of the vegetable and 
fruit-gardens surrounding the villa. Long beds of aspa- 
ragus, whose delicate red shoots were just piercing the 
crust of the soil, were interspersed with thick parterres 
of lactuca, the opening dish of the meal ; here the brown- 
ish-red Caecilian, there the yellowish-green large-headed 
Cappadocian species. In one part flourished great plots of 
Cuman and Pompeian kale, the tender buds of which 
afforded a favourite dish, as well for the frugal meal of the 
lower classes, as for the table of the gourmand. In another, 
numerous beds of leeks and onions ; besides spic}^ herbs, the 
pale green rue, and the far-smelling mint, as well as the 
eruca, which many secretly indulged in, and the mysterious 
powers of which were unequivocally demonstrated by the 
numerous young population around the villa ; and innu- 
merable rows of mallows, endives, beans, lupins, and other 
vegetables. 

Further on, the imposing-looking orchards extended, 
in which were to be found the most noble sorts of fruit. 
Crustumian and Syrian pears, and mighty volema, among 
the native Falernian and other species ; and not less con- 
spicuous were the apples, among which were the delicious 
honey-apples, a species of quicker growth than the others, 
and already ripe. Then there were the various kinds of 
early and late plums, quinces, cherry-trees, the boughs of 
which were laden with the reddening fruit, peaches and 
apricots, fig-trees w^th their sweeter winter-fruits, and the 
nuptial walnut with its strong and wide-spreading branches. 



^" The goiirmands of Eome were 
not content with the numerous varie- 
ties of tame pigeons, but, for an es- 
pecial delicacy,ring and turtle-doves, 
2)alicmbi,turtures,were snared,or their 
nests taken. As these would not breed 



in confinement (Col. viii. 9, idgeiius 
in ornithone nee parit nee excludit), 
they were placed in a dark receptacle 
imder the pigeon-house, and fattened 
for the table. Pall. i. 35. Cf. Mart, 
xiii, 51, and iii. ^7 ,turdorum corona, 



Scene V.] 



THE VILLA. 



But more delightful than all, was the cheerful and 
contented appearance of the numerous members of the 
country family, who did not perform an imposed task like 
slaves, but with healthful and joyous looks seemed every- 
where to be cultivating their own property. The gentle 
disposition of the master was reflected in the behaviour of 
the villicus, the indefatigable but just overseer of the 
whole ; and Grallus would rather have dismissed a useless 
slave from his family, than have borne to see him labouring 
on his property laden with chains, and dragging logs after 
him. Hence each one discharged his duties willingly and 
actively, and hastened cheerfully in the evenings to the 
great kitchen, which served as the common abode of all, in 
order to rest from their daily toil, and amid incessant talk 
to take their evening meal. 

Such happened to be the sight which greeted Grallus 
on his arrival, for it was this point that he first reached, 
as in order to have gone at once to his villa, he must have 
taken at MinturnaB the more inconvenient route behind the 
Massican hills, by way of Suessa Aurunca. Hearty as his 
reception was, and willingly as he would have inspected, 
even the same day, the flourishing condition of the villa, 
still he longed too much for repose after the exertion of 
his journey to prolong his stay there, especially as the bath 
and meal prepared at his own house awaited his arrival ; 
so he continued his journey without stopping. A broad 
alley of plane-trees led by a gentle slope up to his resi- 
dence^^, which was built not so much on a magnificent 
scale, as in conformity with good taste and utility. The 
front, situated to the south-east, formed a roomy portico, 
resting on Corinthian pillars, before which extended a 
terrace planted with flowers, and divided by box-trees into 



" The description of the villa 
urhaiia, the 2^r<sloriicm, as the manor- 
house was called,is taken from Pliny's 
Epistles, partly from ii. 17, and 
partly from v. 6. In the main points 



the author has followed the first 
account of the simple Laurentinian 
villa. The Tusculan, as described 
in the second letter, presents great 
difficulties. 



64 



GALLUS. 



[Scene V. 



small beds of various forms; while the declivity sloping 
gently down, bore figures, skilfully cut out of the box- 
trees, of animals opposite to each other, as if prepared 
for attack, and then gradually became lost in the acanthus 
which covered with its verdure the plain at its foot. 

Behind the colonnade, after the fashion of the city, 
was an atrium, not splendidly but tastefully adorned, the 
elegant pavement of which, formed to imitate lozenges, in 
green, white, and black stone, contrasted pleasantly with 
the red marble that covered the walls. From this you 
entered a small oval peristylium^^, an excellent resort in un- 
favourable weather; for the spaces between the pillars were 
closed up with large panes of the clearest lapis specularis, 
or talc, through which the eye discovered the pleasant 
verdure of the soft mossy carpet^^ that covered the open 
space in the centre, and was rendered ever flourishing by 
the spray of the fountain. Just behind this was the regular 
court of the house, of an equally agreeable aspect, in which 
stood a large marble basin, surrounded by all sorts of 
shrubs and dwarf trees. On this court abutted a grand 
eating-hall, built beyond the whole line of the house^"*, 
through the long windows of which, reaching like doors 
to the ground, a view was obtained, towards the Auruncan 
hills in front, and on the sides into the graceful gardens ; 



^^ The reading in Uteres si- 
militudinem (Plin. Ep. ii. 17, 4), 
has been followed, where D and also 
A are read. The argument in sup- 
port of I) as opposed to the other 
two letters, suits only the A, for the 
Roman was no circle, but an oval. 
Prioricm autem duarum literarum 
formas potius 'per circulum et trian- 
gulum expressisset. 

'^ The moss in the impluvium, 
which was protected from the sun by 
cloths spread over it, is alluded to by 
Plin. xix. 1, 6 : Buhent (vela) in cavis 



cedium et museum a sole dcfendunt. 

'"* The ancient houses were not 
built rectilinearly, as ours are, but 
symmetry was sacrificed to comfort, 
and as it was thought desirable to 
catch the sun's rays as much as pos- 
sible, especially in the winter-time, 
several rooms were built projecting 
from the line of the building. Such a 
one, though at a corner of the build- 
ing, was that described by Pliny, ii. 
17, 8 : Adnectitur avgulo cuhiculuvi 
in apsida curvatum, quod ambitum 
soils fenestris omnibus sequitur. 



Scene V.J THE VILLA. 65 

whilst in the rear, a passage opened through the cavcedmmif 
peristylium, atrium, and colonnade beyond the xystus, into 
the open air. 

This Cyzicenian saloon was bordered on the right by 
different chambers, which from their northerly aspect pre- 
sented a pleasant abode in the heat of summer ; and more 
to the east lay the regular sitting and sleeping rooms. The 
first were built outwards semicircularly, in order to catch 
the beams of the morning light, and retain those of the 
mid-day sun. The internal arrangements were simple, but 
comfortable, and in perfect accordance with the green pro- 
spect around ; for on the marble basement were painted 
branches reaching inwards as it were from the outside, and 
upon them coloured birds, so skilfully executed, that they 
appeared not to sit but to flutter. ^^ On one side only was 
this artificial garden interrupted by a piece of furniture, 
containing a small library of the most choice books. ^^ The 
sleeping apartment was separated from it merely by a small 
room, which could in winter be warmed by Si hypocaustum, 
and thus communicate the warmth to the adjoining rooms 
by means of pipes.^^ The rest of this side was used as 
an abode for the slaves, although most of the rooms were 
sufficiently neat for the reception of any friends who might 
come on a visit.^^ 

On the opposite side, which enjoyed the full warmth 
of the evening sun, were the bath rooms and the sphceris- 
teriuon, adapted not merely for the game of ball, but for 



15 Plin. Ep. V. 6, 22 : Est et 

aliud cuhiculum a jproxima flcdano 
viride, et umbrosum, marmore excul- 
tum podio tenus: nee cedit graticB 
marmoris ramos insidentesquc ramis 
aves imitata jpictura. 

'« Plin. Ep. ii. 17, 8. Parieti 
ejus in bihIiotheccB speciem armarium 
insertum est, quod non legendum 
libris, sed lectitandos capit. 



'^ See the Excursus on The Bo- 
man House. 

'^ We see that the slaves did not 
always inhabit small bad cells, from. 
Plin. Ep. ii. 17, 9 : Beliqua -pars 
lateris hujiis servorum libertorum- 
quc usibus detinetiir, plcrisque tarn 
mundis, ut accipere hospites pos- 
sint. 



66 



GALLUS. 



[Scene Y. 



nearly every description of corporeal exercises, and spacious 
enough to hold several different parties of players at the 
same time. There G-allus, who was a friend to bracing 
exercises, used to prepare himself for the bath, either by 
the game trigon, at which he was expert, or by swinging 
the kälteres, and for this purpose the room could be 
warmed in winter by means of pipes, which were conducted 
from the hypocaustum of the bath under the floor and along 
the walls. Lastly, at both ends of the front colonnade, 
forming the entrance, rose turret-shaped buildings,^^ in the 
different stories of which were small chambers, or triclinia, 
affording an extensive view of the smiling plains. 

The garden around the villa, in consequence of the 
peculiarity of its position, was divided into two unequal 
parts, one of which in ingenuity and quaintness of orna- 
ment was not at all inferior to the most renowned gardens 
in the old French and Italian style. No tree or shrub dared 
there to grow in its own natural fashion, the pruning knife 
and shears of the topiarius being ready instantly to force 
it into the prescribed limits. Hence nothing was to be seen 
but the green walls of the smoothly-clipped hedges, diversi- 
fied only by flower-beds, which, like the xystus, were par- 
titioned off by box-trees into several smaller ones, exhaust- 
ing in their shape all the figures of geometry. Here and 
there stood threatening forms of wild beasts, bears and 
lions, serpents winding themselves round the trees, and so 
forth ; all cut by the skilful hand of the gardener out of 
the green box,, cypress, or yew-trees. The reluctant 
foliao'e had been even constrained into the imitation of 



'^ Two such turres, edifices raised 
several stories above the rest of the 
building, were in the Laurentian 
Villa. Plin. ii. 17, 12. Therein were 
several diceta, small lodgings parti- 
tioned off, or consisting of more or 
less chambers : they are only men- 
tioned in villas,or similar possessions, 
and frequently the expression seems 



to mean, separate small houses, un- 
connected with the main building. 
See Plin. Ep. v. 6, 20. Cf. Turneb. 
Adv. xxiv. 4. In this sense turris is 
used by Tibullus, 1. vii. 19 : — 

Utque maris vastum prospectet turribus 
sequor 
Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros ? 



Scene T.] THE VILLA. 67 

letters, and colossal characters could be read, indicating in 
one part the name of the owner, in another, of the artist 
to whose invention the garden owed its present appearance. 
There were also artificial fountains, environed by master- 
works of sculpture, between which glistened the round tops 
of lofty orange-trees, with their golden fruit. 

Fashion required such a garden, ^ich in fact was but 
little in accordance with the taste of G-allus. He liked 
not this constraining of nature into uncongenial forms, and 
much preferred lingering in the other and larger portion, 
where the course of nature was unrestrained, and only 
prevented by the gardener's arranging hand from growing 
wild. Shady groves of planes alternated with open patches 
of green, which were bounded again by laurels or myrtle- 
bushes. Instead of the artificial fountains, a limpid brook 
meandered by the aid of skilful direction through the park, 
sometimes foaming in tiny cascades over fragments of rock, 
and then collecting in basins, where tame fishes w^ould con- 
gregate to the bank at an accustomed signal, and snap up 
the food thrown to them.^^ On rounding the corner of a 
thicket, the character of the park suddenly changed ; for 
passing from a spot of apparently perfect unconstraint, 
you entered a neatly-kept plantation of fruit trees and 
vegetables, which amidst the vanities of the park forcibly 
reminded you of a modest little farm.^^ From hence you 



^^ An instance of this sort is ad- 
duced by Mart. ir. 30, which, al- 
though a miserable piece of flattery 
to Domitian, can hardly be thought 
altogether fictitious : — 

Quid quod nomen habent, et ad magistri 
Vocem quisque sui venit citatus. 

Even in the present day, fish are 
taught to congregate near the bank, 
at the sound of a bell, or some other 
signal. 

21 Such an imitatio ruris was also 
to be found in the middle of the 

F 2 



splendid park of Tuscum. Plin. Ep. 
V. 6, 35. Does the ridicule of Martial 
(iii, 48) allude to the same thing? 

Pauperis exstruxit cellam, sed yendidit 
onus 
Prsedia : nunc cellam pauperis Ollus ha- 
bet. 

An humble hut in such a sketch, as 
with us a hermitage or Swiss cottage, 
would not appear at all inconceivable 
in the midst of such a host of other 
vagaries; especially as Martial re- 
fers to prcBdia, under which, in this 
case, all landed property is compre- 



68 



GALLUS. 



[Scene Y. 



passed into a straight alley of plane-trees, clad from the 
trunk to the loftiest branches with dark green ivy, which 
climbing from one tree to another, hung down in natural 
festoons. This was the hippodrome, which, after extending 
more than a thousand paces in a straight line, made a 
semicircular turn, and then ran back parallel to the first 
alley. Adjoining thi^was a second shady path for a similar 
purpose, enclosing one great oval, which, however, being 
less broad than the other, was only used for a promenade 
in the ledica. Not far from hence was the most captivating 
spot in the garden, where tall shady elms entwined with 
luxuriant vines, enclosed a semicircular lawn, the green 
carpet of which was penetrated by a thousand shooting 
violets. On the farther side rose a gentle ascent, planted 
with the most varied roses, that mingled their balmy odours 
with the perfume of the lilies blooming at its foot. Beyond 
this were seen the dark summits of the neiorhbourins: 
mountains, while on the side of the hill a pellucid stream 
babbled down in headlong career, after escaping from the 
colossal urn of a nymph, who lay gracefully reclined on 
the verdant moss,^^ dashed over a mass of rocks, and then 
with a gentle murmur vanished*behind the green amphi- 
theatre. This was the favorite resort of Gallus. There, 
under the influence, as it were, of the bacchic and erotic 



hended. But a safer interpretation 
•would be to refer it to poorly fitted- 
up cells in the house itself, to which 
the wealthy owner, surfeited with 
splendour, might retreat under the 
pretence of a fit of abstinence ; as is 
often mentioned by Seneca, Cons, ad 
Helv. 12 : Sitmunt quosdam dies, 
cum jam illos divitiarum tcBdium 
cepit, quihus humi coenent, et re- 
moto auro argentoque fictilihus 
utantur. Ep. 18: Non est nunc, 
quod existimes me ducere te ad mo- 
dicas ccenas et ]yauperum cellas, et 
quidquid aliud est, 'per quod luxuria 



divitiarum tmdio ludit. Ep. 100: 
Besit sane varietas marmorum et 
concisura aquarum, cubiculis inter- 
fluentium et pauperis cella et quid- 
quid aliud luxuria non contenta 
decore simplici miscet. 

" After an antique painting in 
Mus. Borb. ii. tav. 36. ' A Naiad in 
a verdant plain, sitting on a moss- 
covered stone, with her right arm 
above her head, and her left rest- 
ing on an urn, from which flowed 
on the grassy ground the scattered 
moisture of its limpid waters.' 



Scene Y.] THE VILLA. 69 

deities, statues and groups of whom embellished the inter- 
vals between the tall elms, he had written the majority of 
his most recent elegies ; there had he, with Virgil, Pro- 
pertius, and Lycoris, whiled away many happy hours ; there 
was he sure of being discovered on the coming morn. 

But the remainder of this day was devoted to refresh- 
ment and repose ; even his customary game of ball before 
the refreshing plunge into the cold swimming bath was 
omitted, and early after the meal he retired to enjoy a 
comfortable repose in his own chamber. 



SCENE THE SIXTH. 



LYCORIS, 



POMPONIUS had hurried away from Grallus with the 
haste of a man on whose steps success or ruin de- 
pended. Lost in thought, he had neither regarded the 
salutations of the friends who met him, nor heard the 
declamations of the ill-humoured Calpurnius, and had 
scarcely remarked, that his tardy companioQ had separated 
from him at the forum transitorium, and taken the di- 
rection of the forum Romanum. Halting suddenly, he 
changed his rapid run into a slow and contemplative walk, 
then stopped still, contracting his forehead in profound 
reflection, and striking his hand on his breast,^ as if to 
summon forth the thoughts within. He drew himself 
slowly up to his full height, resting the left hand against 
the hip, and with the right vehemently slapping his thigh : 
but still no light seemed to penetrate the chaos of his 
ideas. He snapped his fingers fretfully, shook his head, as 
if he had renounced the intended errand, but presently his 
movements became more tranquil ; and placing his hand 
under his chin, he appeared to hold firmly to one idea. 
A malicious and triumphant smile played about his mouth, 



' As the language of grimace is 
very expressive of national peculiari- 
ties, especially among more southern 
nations, it is the more interesting to 
consider the passages in the ancient 
writers which contain descriptions of 
this nature. Of these, one of the 
most important, and on which this 
narration is based, is Plaut. Mil. 
Glor. ii. 2, 46, where the attitudes of 
Palsestrio, who is brooding over a 
scheme, are pourtrayed in the most 
lively colours. Periplectomenes, who 
is observing him, thus speaks : — 
. . . illuc sis vide. 



Quemadmodum abstitit, severa fronte curas 

cogitans. 
Pectus digitis pultat, cor credo evocatu- 

rum est foras. 
Ecce avortit, nisus Iseva ; in femine habet 

lEevam manum ; 
Dextera digitis rationem computat, feriens 

femur 
Dexterum ita vehementer, quod tactu aegre 

suppetit. 
Concrepuit digitis ; labor at crebro, commu- 

tat status. 
Ecce autem capite nutat; non placet quod 

repperit. 
Quidquid est incoctum non expromet ; bene 

coctum dabit. 
Ecce autem sedificat; columnam mento 

suffulsit sue. 



Scene VI.] 



LYCORIS. 



71 



as he turned suddenly and called the slave who stood at a 
little distance, surveying him with astonishment. 

^ Hasten home immediately,' said he ; ' bid Dromo repair 
without delay to the taberna of the tonsor Licinus,^ and 
await me there. But be quick.' Away ran the slave ; 
Pomponius proceeded on his way alone, at an increased 
speed, and having stopped before a handsome house in the 
Carince,^ knocked, and enquired, ^Is your lord at home ?' 
' To you, yes ! ' replied the ostiarius ; * to others, in the 
foTUTR,'^ Pomponius hurried through the atrium. A cu- 
bicidarius announced and ushered him into a room, where 
a powerful looking man, of middle age, with a full round 
face and rather vulgar features, was reclining on a lectus 
and looking over accounts. Near him stood a freedman 
with the counting board,"^ and on an adjoining table were 
piled up two heaps of silver coin, between which stood a 
purse, probably, of higher value : various accounts, pu- 



^ Liciniis, tlie name of a hair- 
dresser and barber, celebrated in his 
day, and made known to posterity by 
Horace's mention of him. Art. Poet. 
301. He is said to have become 
■wealthy by means of his art, and to 
have received honours by the favour 
of Augustus. He caused a costly 
monument to be erected to himself, 
which drew forth the following epi- 
gram : — 

Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet ; at Cato 
nullo ; 
Pompeius parvo. Quis putet esse deos ? 

^ Carinse was the name of one of 
the principal streets or rather regions 
of Eorae {lautce Carina;, Virg. Mn. 
viii. 361) ; it was on the declivity of 
the Esquilinus. It contained the 
palaces of most of the nobles, as 
Pompeius, Q. Cicero, and others, 
and also the most respectable ton- 
strince, to which number that cer- 



tainly did not belong, in which Phi- 
lippus saw Vultejus : Cultello pro- 
prios purgantem leniter ungues. 
Hor. Ep. i. 7, 51. 

* On a relief in the Mus. Cap. 
iv. t. 20, supposed to be the adop- 
tion of Hadrian by Trajan, a man 
lies on a lectus, holding in the right 
hand a purse, and in the left a roll. 
By his side sits a matron (Plotilla), 
and at his feet, behind the couch, 
stands a man, holding in the left 
hand a counting-board, or tablet, on 
which money is reckoned, and to 
which he points with the forefinger 
of the right hand. He is thought to 
be a Ubripens : but apart from the 
question of the truth of this surmise, 
it is certain that a scene might very 
well be represented in which a master 
is casting up accounts with his dis- 
pensator ov procurator. 



72 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VI. 



gillares with the stylus, and an inkstand and writing- 
reed,^ were lying around. 

^ Hail, Largüs ! ' cried Pomponius, as he entered. * Hail 
to you, also I ' replied the man ; ' but what brings you hither 
for the second time to day ?' Pomponius cast a suspicious 
glance at the freedman, who, at a nod from Largus, made 
his exit. ' Good news ! ' was at length his answer. 'Gallus 
leaves Eome this very morning, in order that he may 
forget in the country the vexations of yesterday.' 

* Goes he to his villa ? ' enquired the astonished Largus 
as he raised himself. 'Ay, to the villa, which is, I hope, 
soon to be yours,' replied the other. ' He will take care 
that you find the house and garden in the best condition.' 

' And do you call this good news ?' asked Largus. ' Was 
it not our plan to elicit, by the help of the mighty Fa- 
lernian, something of treasonable import from this pas- 
sionate braggart ? Will you send into Campania the 
witnesses whom I pay with heavy coin, and the liberty- 
heroes who must draw him into their giddy projects? Or 
do you imagine that Augustus will assign more importance 
to discontented expressions, uttered at a retired villa, 
amidst a parcel of peaceful peasants, than to the voice of 
rebellion at Eome ? ' 

'All very true,' retorted Pomponius. *But have we not 
already proceeded far enough ? The copies of the pompous 
inscriptions on the temples and pyramids of Egypt, 
the complaints of Petronius about the oppression of the 
country, and the highly treasonable talk of yesterday — 
do you want more threads still, from which to weave a 
most inextricable net ? Or will you wait till his presence 
in person prove the nullity of our accusations? till 



* This description is taken from 
a painting of Herculaneum,in which 
a large purse lies fastened up between 
two heaps of money : before it stands 
an inkstand with a writing-reed lying 
upon it, and further on, a roll half 



open, with a label hanging down, 
jpugillares with a stylus, and a tablet 
with a handle, on which are seen 
figures and writing. See Mus. Borb. 
i. 12, for an engraving of this. 



Scene VI.] 



LYCORIS. 



73 



Augustus' old friendship for him revive, and his false ac- 
cusers meet with something more than ridicule ? No, far 
better is it that he go, and without expecting it, receive 
the blow which is already prepared for him. Then his 
villa to you : his house in Eome to me, and,' — here he 
stopped. 

Largus had placed his hand on his brow musingly. 'You 
may be right,' said he : ' but do you feel confidence in the 
witnesses of yesterday ? ' 

'As much as in myself,' replied the other. 'Still I will 
have him watched at the villa. There are malcontents too 
in that neighbourhood, who will quickly muster around 
him. But doubtless,' continued he, looking the while at 
the table near him, ' doubtless we shall want money, with 
which to bribe his slaves and a witness.' 

'What again?' exclaimed Largus, unwillingly. 'Did 
not I only the other day pay you forty thousand ses^ 
terces f ' 

' Certainly !' said Pomponius. 'But you do not reflect 
what an expense it is to me to be always keeping the 
society of Gallus; what I have to pay to fishmongers, 
bakers, butchers, gardeaers, and poulterers; what sums 
I have to disburse for baths, ointments, and garlands^ — 
forty thousand sesterces are but a mere pinch of poppy- 
seeds for an ant-hill.^ And yet the greater part of it has 
been received by the spies, and Grripus, the indispensable 
slave of Grallus, to whom indeed I promised again to-day 
to pay four hundred denarii. We must give up the entire 



^ These were the kind of 
from whom were procured the daily 
necessaries. InPlautus, Trin. ii. 4, 8, 
when Lesbonicus demanded from the 
slave an account of the money which 
he had received, the latter replied : 

Comesum, expotum,exunctum, elotum in 

balneis. 
Piscator, pistor abstulit, lanii, coqui, 
Alitores, myropolaB, aucupes ; 



and Gnatho, in Ter. Eun. ii. 2, 26, 
says : — 

Concurrunt Iseti mi obviam cupediarü om- 

nes; 
Cetarii, lanii, coqni, fartores, piscatores. 

' These are the words of the Tri- 
nummus : Confit cito, quasi si tu ob- 
jicias formicis jpajpaverem. 



74 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VI. 



enterprise if you sfrudore the bait wherewith to catch the 
fish.' 8 ^ "^ 

You come too often,' said Largus ; 'your bait is an ex- 
pensive one, and after all it is uncertain whether the fish 
will bite, or no. But be it so. What sum do you require ?' 

' Only twenty thousand. Not more than you have often 
lost at dice in a single night.' 

' Well, then, you shall have them ; or will you have 
gold?' With these words he reached out his hand to the 
purse, told forth some hundred pieces of gold, and gave the 
purse with its remaining contents to Pomponius.^ ' Only 
mind,' added he, 'that these are the last.' 

Pomponius did not hesitate for an instant, though un- 
attended by a slave; the twenty thousand pieces being too 
pleasant a burden for him to scruple about carrying them 
himself. He cast the bag into the folds of his toga, agreed 
on a rendezvous for the evening, and hurried off to the 
taherna, where he had commanded his slave to meet him. 
He there found a comical little person already waiting for 
him, whose huge and unshapely head sitting closely upon 
his shoulders, as if he had no neck, ragged red hair and 
purple lips contrasting strangely with the blackish tint of 
his face, from which a couple of most cunning eyes gleamed 
forth, fat pot-belly and equally substantial pair of short 
legs, which had a secure basis in his large broad feet. 



^ A very favourite comparison of 
those who made a small sacrifice in 
order to get a larger gain, was that 
borrowed from angling, and it was 
especially applied to heredipetts, le- 
gacy-hunters, who sent presents to 
those on whose property they had a 
design. The saying was as common 
then as now, ' To throw a sprat to 
catch a salmon.' So says Mart. vi. 
63, 5 :— 

Mmiera magna tamen misit, sed misit in 
hämo: 



SO also V. 18, 7 : — 

Imitantur hamos dona. 
Cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 25. 

^ If forty aurei were coined out of 
the libra of gold, the aureus would 
have weighed 7|- scruples, and been 
worth 144 i7Ä, reckoning the scruple 
at 20 HS., in which case 139 aurei 
would have made up the sum of 
20,000 HS. 



Scene VI.] 



LTCOKIS. 



75 



formed a complete caricature. ^° But, in spite of his cor- 
pulence, his whole figure was full of life and activity; with 
keen eye he observed every thing that passed around him, 
and none of the conversation, or news that the comjDany 
leisurely discussed, escaped his attentive ear. Having per- 
ceived the entrance of his master, he approached him with 
a careless salutation. — ' It is well that you have already 
arrived,' said Pomponius, looking round the tahevjia for 
some seat, where he might speak to his slave without being 
overheard : but the tonstrina was too full of company to 
ahow of it.'^ Whilst on the one side the tonsor and his 
assistants practised their art ; encircling one with a linen 
cloth, passing the razor over the chin of another, or pulling 
out with a fine pair of tweezers, from a third, a few hairs 
which disfigured the smoothness of his arm ; on the other 
were formed several knots of idlers, who were conversing 
upon the news of the day. 

' There is no place here free from listeners,' said Pom- 
ponius ; ^ but in every part are people, who without being 
asked or paid for it, busy themselves about other persons' 
business.^^ Come into the street; we shall be quieter in 
the adjoining basilica,^ The slave followed him. 'Dromo,' 
began his master, as they gained the street, ' I have an 
important commission for you, and rely upon your caution 



'" So Harpax describes Pseudolus. 
Plant. Fseud. iv. 6, 120 :— 
Ruf us quidam, ventriosus,crassis suris,sub- 

niger, 
Magno capite, acutis oculis, ore rubicundo 

admodum, 
Magnis pedibus. 

A similar description of the Pseudo- 
Saurea Leonidas, is giyen in the 
Asinaria, ii. 3, 20 : — 

Macilentis malis, rufulus, aliquantum ven- 

triosus, 
Truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi 

fronte. 

^' In the tonstrincB, the hair was 
cut, the beard shorn, and the nails 
cleaned. 



^' This is undoubtedly the sense 
of the proverbial saying in Plaut. 
True. i. 2; 35 : Suo vestimcnto ef 
cibo alienis rebus curare. The mean- 
ing of which is, that whoever is not 
in the service of another, is not called 
upon to busy himself with that per- 
son's affairs. So in Plaut. Eudens, 
i. 2, 91, the master says to his slave, 
who is pursuing with his eyes the two 
women swimming towards them : — 

Si tu de illarum coenaturus vesperi es, 

Ulis curandum censeo, Sceparnio. 

Si apud me esurus es, mi operam dari volo. 



76 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VI. 



and activity in the execution of it. Gallus travels this 
morning to his Campanian villa. Lycoris is to follow him 
to Baise. I suspect, in consequence of the suddenness of 
his departure, that he will summon her thither in writing. 
Do you take care that the letter comes into my hands. 
Employ every means, — trickery, treachery, corruption, 
every thing save violence.' 

* Very good,' replied the slave ; * but corruption requires 
money ; and the tabellarii of Gallus are the most honest 
donkeys^^ in existence. Gripus could certainly be of as- 
sistance to us,' he continued thoughtfully ; ' but he is an 
insatiable fellow, who never does anything without being 
well paid for it.' 

'There shall be no lack of money,' interrupted Pom- 
ponius, as he produced the purse. ' Here is gold ! pure 
gold ! which will buy him drink in the popince for months. 
Come into the basilica, that I may give it you.' 

'Now then,' said Dromo, 'we shall be able to manage it. 
But suppose the communication of Gallus were to be an 



^^ The Romans liad a vast num- 
ber of words of abuse, many of which 
were very coarse. See Plaut. Pseud. 
i. 3, 126, where however only a small 
selection is to be found. They sel- 
dom used the name of any animal as 
a term of contempt, as commonly 
happens amongst us. The bos was 
never a word of abuse ; but not so 
asinus, as Ter. Ädelph. v. 8, 12 : — 

Quid tu autem huic, asine, auscultas ? 
Besides canis, the use of which was 
very common, vervex, sheep, simple- 
ton, sometimes occurs, as Juv. x. 50 : 
Magnos posse viros vervecum in patrio 

nasci : 
and Plaut. Merc. iii. 3, 6, 

Itane vero, vervex, intro eas. 
The following were also frequently 
made use of, — hircics (Plaut. Most. 
Germania illuvies, rusticus, hircus, hara 
suis. 



i. 1, 39), verves (Plaut. Mü. Glor. iv. 
2, 63), vidturius, and ciiculus; but 
more frequently with a special re- 
ference, than as general words of 
offence. So, for instance, in Plaut. 
Psezid. i. 2, 4, 

Neque homines magis asinos unquam vidi, 
ita plagis costse callent, 

it refers to their laziness and insen- 
sibility to blows. On the other hand, 
in Ter. Eunuch, iii. 5, 50, 

Tum equidem istuo os tuum impudens vi- 

dere nimium vellem : 
Qui esset status, flabellulum teuere te asi- 

num tantum, 

it merely means a man who is fit for 
nothing, has no skill, as in the pro- 
verb, Asinus ad tibiam, or ad lyram. 
[So also hirsuta capella was said of 
dirty -looking men, Juv. v. 155 ; Amm. 
Marc. xvii. 12 ; xxiv. 8.] 



Scene VI.] 



LYCOKIS. 



77 



oral and not a written one ? But I'll provide for that also; 
rely upon me, that before the bell summons to the bath, 
you shall have the letter, or measures shall at least have 
been taken to prevent any message reaching Lycoris ex- 
cept through you.' 



The sixth hour was past, and there was less bustle 
in the popince. Only here and there remained a guest, 
who could not break from the sweet mead, and the maid 
who waited on him ; or was still resting, heavy and over- 
come by his sedulous attentions to the fluids. In a small 
taherna of the Subura sat two slaves, draining a goblet, 
which apparently was not their first. The one was a 
youth of pleasing exterior, numbering little more than 
twenty years, whose open and honest-looking countenance 
was in a rubicund glow, while his reddening neck and the 
swelling veins of his full round arms showed plainly that 
the earthen vessel before him had contained something 
besides vinegar.^'* The other, whose age might be between 
thirty and forty, inspired the beholder with less confidence ; 
his bold and reckless mien, lips turned up scornfully, and 
rough merriment, betokened one of those slaves who, con- 
fiding in the kind disposition of their master, and the 
thickness of their own backs, were accustomed to bid 
defiance to all the elm-staves and thongs in the world. 

'But now drink, Cerinthus!' exclaimed the latter to 
his younger companion, as he quaffed the remainder of his 
goblet. 'Whj^, you take it as if I ordered nothing but 
Vatican, and yet the landlord has given us the best Sabine 
in his cellar : and I assure you that the Falernian that I 
slily sipped behind the column at the late banquet, was 
scarcely so good.' 



'* Vinegar-water, posca, a com- 
mon drink of soldiers in the field 
(Spart. Hadr. 10), as well as of 
slaves. Plaut. Mil. iii. 2, 23 :— 

Alii ebrii sunt, alii poscam potitant. 



Palsestrio is evidently himself a- 
mongst those who indulge in posca, 
whilst Scledenis and Lucrio intoxi- 
cate themselves by wine. 



78 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VI. 



' In truth, Gripus,' answered the young slave, ^ the 
wine is excellent, but I fear I shall be drinking too much. 
My temples burn, and if I taste more, I may be tipsy 
when I go to Lycoris. You know how Grallus insists on 
order and punctuality.' 

'Grallus, indeed!' said the other, 'why, he drinks more 
than we do. Besides, he has to-day gone ioto the country, 
and the old grumbler Chresimus with him; therefore we now 
are free, and moreover it's my birthday, and as nobody 
has invited me, why, I'll be merry at my own expense.' 

As he thus spake, a third person entered the popina. 
' Ah ! well met,' cried the fat little figure ; ' I salute ye 
both.' 

'Oh! welcome, Dromo,' exclaimed Grripus, as if sur- 
prised at his appearance. ' You have come at the happiest 
possible moment. Our lord is set out on a journey, and 
I am now celebrating my birthday.''^ 

' How, your birthday ? Excellent ! We must make 
a rich offering to the genius. But, by Mercury and La- 
verna, your glasses are empty. Holloa ! damsel, wine 
here ! Why, by Hercules, I believe ye have ordered but 
a glass each. A lagena here !' cried he, throwing a piece 
of gold on the table, 'and larger goblets, that we may 
drink to the name of our friend.' 

The lagena came. ' The name has six letters,' ex- 
claimed Dromo ; ' let six cyathi be filled.' ' But not 
unmixed, surely?' put in Cerinthus. 'What cares the 
genius about water?' replied the other. ' To Grripus 
health ! How, Cerinthus, you won't shirk, surely ? 



['^ The celebration of the birth- 
day amongst the Eomans is frequently 
mentioned. On this day they were 
accustomed to sacrifice to their pro- 
tecting genius, and to invite their re- 
lations and friends to festivities 
{natalici(B dapes). Varro, Censor. 
2 ; Ovid. Trist, iii. 13,13 ; TibuU. i. 



7, 49 ; ii. 2, 1 ; Pers. ii. 1 ; vi. 18 ; 
Juv. xi. 83 ; Cic. Phil. ii. 6 ; Mart, 
xi. 65 ; X. 27 ; G-ell. xix. 9 ; and fre- 
quently in Plautus. The friends who 
came brought congratidations and 
presents, Mart. viii. 64 ; ix. 54. Many 
ancient monographies treat of this 
custom.] 



SCEXE VI.] 



LYCOEIS. 



79 



Bravo ! drained to the bottom, so that the genius may 
look down brightly upon us. So Gallus has departed from 
Eome? To the Falernian region for certain? Well, he 
knows how to live ! An excellent master ! We'll drink to 
his well-being also. Actually just the same number of 
letters. Now, Cerinthus, health to your lord!' 'Long life 
and happiness to him,' cried the other, already intoxicated, 
as he emptied the goblet. 

' One thing is still wanting. Come hither, Chione, and 
drink with us. By Hercules, though, a spruce lass.' 

^True,' stammered out Cerinthus, with some difficulty, 
as he drew the unresisting damsel towards him ; 'you seem 
to me even prettier than before.'^'' * Oh ! that is because 
you are now in merrier mood,' replied the female, smiling. 
'Yes,' cried he, 'the proverb is true which says that 
"without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus is but a frosty affair.'" 
'What say you?' interrupted Grripus, who thought this 
was the right moment for the prosecution of his scheme ; 
^she was always pretty; Lycoris herself has not finer 
eyes.' 

The name struck the ear of Cerinthus, in spite of his 
drunkenness, like a clap of thunder. He tried to spring- 
up, but his feet refused their office, and he leaned reeling 
against the damsel. 

' What's the matter, man ? WTiither would you go ? ' 
exclaimed the other two. ' To Lycoris,' stammered he. 
' You don't suppose I'm drunk, do ye ? ' 'Oh no,' said 
G-ripus; 'but you seem weak and fatigued.' 'How? I 
fa-fatigued? '^^ He tried to depart, but after a few paces 



'^ In Terent. Eun. iv. 5, 4, this is 
said by Chremes, who is some-what 
tipsy, to Pythias, and she answers 
similarly : — 

Ch. Vah! quanto nmic formosior 

Videre mihi quam dudum. Py. Certe 
tu quidem pol multo liilarior. 
Ch. Verbum hercle hoc verum erit : Sine 
Cerere et Libero friget Venus. 



1^ In Plant. Most. i. 4, 18, where 
the drunken Callidamates is ledin by 
his maid, the latter says, Madet homo, 
and the drunken man stammers oiit 
in reply, tun' me ais ma-ma-madere. 
The same authority affords us an ex- 
cuse for the picture here given. 



80 



GALLUS. 



[Scene YI, 



sank down. ' Take a sleep for a little while,' said Gripus, 
^and let me have charge of your letter, and I'll immediately 
carry it to its destination.' The drunken man nodded 
assent, and produced the tablets. Dromo obtained from 
the landlord a place for the unconscious slave to sleep in, 
paid the score, and hurried off with Gripus. 



The bustle of the day had ceased, the last twilight of 
evening was already beginning to yield to the darkness 
of night, and all who but a few hours before were en- 
livening the streets, had now retired home to rest. In 
the Subura alone, the business of the day had subsided, 
hub only to be succeeded by activity of another kind. 
Here and there persons with muffled faces,* ^ glided cau- 
tiously along ; and shrouded forms stealing to and fro 
about the streets, slipped into the well-known cellce, or 
sought new acquaintances in houses, the doors of which, 
adorned with foliage, and lit up with numerous lamps, 
announced them to be newly-opened temples of Venus. '^ ' 



'^ On such occasions, to avoid 
being recognised, the garments were 
drawn over the head, or it was con- 
cealed in a cucullus. So we read of 
Antonius, who wished to surprise his 
love. Cic. Fhil. ii. 31 : Domum venit 
ccvpite ohvoluto. Juv. vi. 330 : — 
Ilia jubet sumto juvenem properare cucullo; 

and viii. 145 : — 

noctumus adulter 
Tempora Santonico velas adoperta cucullo. 

Cf. Kuperti in iii. 170 ; Jul. Cap. Ver. 
4 : Vagari fer tabernas ac liijpana- 
ria ohtecto capite cucuUione vulgari 
viatorio. See the Excursus on The 
Male Attire. 

^" There does not seem to have 
been any street-lighting at Eome, 
till very late, as no mention is made 



of it before the fourth century. As 
far as Eome is concerned, I find no 
proof of it at all. For the passage 
quoted from Am. Marc. xiv. refers 
not to Eome, but to Antiochia: Adhi- 
bitis jpaucis clam ferro siiccinctis ves- 
peri per tabernas jpalabatur et com- 
pita, quceritando GrcBco sermone,cvjus 
erat impendio gnarus, quid de Ccb- 
sare quisque sentiret. Et lime confi- 
denter agebat in tirbe, ubi pernoc- 
tantium luminum claritudo dierum 
solet imitari fulgorem. The lighting 
of the streets in Antiochia in the 
fourth century, had abeady been 
placed beyond a doubt by the pas- 
sages of Libanius. In another pas- 
sage of the Cod. Justin, viii. 12, 19, 
the lighting of the baths merely is 
meant ; concerning which see the Ex- 



Scene VI.] 



LYCOEIS. 



81 



Now and then a door would gape, and, the curtain being 
drawn aside, allowed a glimpse into brilliantly-lighted 
chambers, where youths, surrounded by unblushing females 
in immodest costumes, were passing theii- time in riotous 
enjoyment. 20 Here and there, too, sat some rejected lover, 
on the solitary threshold of a hard-hearted libertina, hoping 
by entreaties and perseverance to soften the coy beauty. ^i 



cursiis on The Baths. Lastly, the 
biirning of the Christians, Tacit. 
Anna!, xv. 44, cannot possibly afford 
any proof of a regular lighting. 

General illuminations of whole 
towns, however, were not unusual 
among the ancients. Apart from the 
usage of the Egyptians and Jews 
(Bähx ad Herod, ii. 62), perhaps the 
earliest known instance of it in ßome 
is that where this honour was paid to 
Cicero after the quelling of the Cati- 
line conspiracy. Plut. Cic. 22 : to. 5c- 
(puTU TToAAa KareXafMire tovs are- 
vcimovs, XajXTrddia Koi 5a5as Icrrdjv- 
Tcav evrl ra7s dvpais. Caligula caused 
the bridge of Puteoli on which he 
dined to be brilliantly illuminated. 
Dio Cass. Kx. 17 : to re ?^onrhu 
T^s Tjfiepas Kot tV vvktu iraaau 
(la-Tiddrjcrat/, iroXKov fihu avTÖOeu 
(pciiThs, TToAAou Se koI e/c tuiu opav 
^TTiKdfXT^/avTOS (Tcpicri. tov yap yoj- 
piov iJ.rivoeL8ovs ovtos irvp iravra- 
Xodeu Kadd-rrep iv Qedrpco rivl edeix- 
6r}y wCTTe 1X7)5 Gfxiai' alad-qcriv rov ax^' 
TOVS y^veadai. When Tii-idates en- 
tered Rome ^vith Nero, the whole city 
was illuminated. Dio Cass. Lxiii. 4 : 
Kot iraaa fxhu rj iröXis iKeKocr/xrjro koI 
ipaal Kol (TTs^avwfxacTiv. This was 
SO also when Nero returned from 
Greece. Dio Cass, lxiii. 20; and 
when Septimius Severus made his 
entrance, Ixxiv. 1 : t^ re 70^ it6Kls 
TTttffa dudecri re Koi Sdcpuais eVre- 
<pdv(t)TO, Kal IfxaTiois ttolkiXois e/ce- 
KÖa-fxrjTO, (pwTi re Kai dvixidixacnv 



eAafxne : and in honour of Aurelius 
Zoticus imder Elagabalus, Ixxiv. 16. 
Martial mentions such illuminations, 
X. 6, 4: — 

Quando erit ille dies, quo campus et arbor 
et omnis, 
Lucebit Latia culta fenestra nuru ? 

[See further Stat. Sil v. i. 2, 231 ; 4, 
123 ; iii. Ö, 62—70 ; Arrian. Epict. i. 
19, 24; ii. 17, 17; TertuU. de Idol. 
15 ; App. Met. iv. 26 ; Claudian de 
Nupt. 206; Prudent. co?itra Symm. 
ii. 1009 ; Pacat. :Paneg. Theod. 37.] 

Of the custom here mentioned of 
decking with garlands and illumin- 
atiog new lupanaria as if it were the 
house of a bridal, Lipsius, Elect, i. 3, 
has spoken. He caanot affirm that 
this was the case in the earlier times, 
as the proofs of the fact are only de- 
rived from Tertullian, Apologet. 35 : 
Cicr die Iceto non laurels posies ad- 
umhraraus 1 nee luccrnis diem infrin- 
gimus 1 Honesta res est solemnitate 
publica eccigente inducere domui tu<B 
habitum alicicjus novi lupanaris. Se- 
condly, Ad Uxor. ii. 6 : Procedit de 
janua laicreata et lucernata, ut de 
novo consistorio lihidinum publica- 
rum. The same was the case on 
birth and wedding days. See also 
Ferbar. de Lucern. Sepidcral. ; Der- 
rutzer on Juvenal, xii. 92. 

2" Such is really related by Petron 
c. 7. 

-' See Horat. iii. 10, i. 25 ; Tib. i. 



82 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VI. 



Towards the end of the street, where the ascent of the 
Coelian hill commenced, there stood, somewhat retired, a 
small but cheerful -looking house, which had evidently 
nothing in common with the public resorts of the vicinity ; 
for there was no taberna to be seen, nor was the threshold 
crossed by the step of any visitor ; it might almost have 
been supposed uninhabited, but for the gleam of lamps 
that pierced through some of the windows. Now, however, 
two men might be seen approaching the vestlbuhim, both 
dressed as slaves, with the pcenula drawn over their heads. 
The shorter of the two stopped at some distance off, 
while the other, whose carriage seemed to accord but ill 
with his dress, went to the door and knocked. 

^ Who are you ? ' enquired the ostiarius.^'^ * A tabel- 
larius from G-allus.' The porter opened the door and de- 
manded the letter. ' My commission is an oral one,' said 
the other ; ' lead me to Lycoris.' The porter surveyed the 
muffled stranger doubtingly. 'Why does not Cerinthus 
come ? ' he inquired. ' He is sick,' was the reply : ' but 
what does it concern you to whom my lord entrusts his 
messages ? It is late ; conduct me to your mistress.' 

Lycoris was occupied in packing various sorts of female 
ornaments, in a neat box of cedar-wood, placing them for 
security between layers of soft wool. Her light tunica, 
without sleeves, had become displaced by her movements, 
and slidden down over the left arm,^^ disclosing something 
more than the dazzling shoulder, upon which the black 
hair descended in long ringlets. She was, it is true, no 



1, 56 ; Prop. i. 16 ; Ovid. Amor. i. 6, 
ii. 19, 21. 

-2 So the ostiarius inquired of An- 
tonius, who, on knocking, stated him- 
self to be a tahellarius. Cic. Phil. ii. 
31: Janitor: Quis tu? A. Marco: 
Tahellarius. 

2^ So many passages of this kind 



could be adduced in justification, that 
it is scarcely worth the trouble to 
point them out particularly. The 
wide opening for the neck, and the 
broad holes for the arms, caused the 
light tunica, on every occasion of tlie 
person's stooping, to slip down over 
the arm. Artists appear to have been 
particularly fond of this drapery. 



Scene VI.] 



LYCORIS. 



83 



longer in possession of the youthful freshness and child-like 
naivete that had fixed the love of Grallus when first he saw 
her, but the exquisite roundness of her form was not less 
attractive than ever, so that at the age of twenty-five^^ she 
was still a blooming, beauteous woman. Her several female 
attendants were also busy packing up apparel and other 
things in flat baskets and boxes, and everything gave 
symptoms of preparation for a journey. 

\ Lay the 'palla once more under this press/ said she 
to the maidens, ' and the tunica also. Have you put in 
the stomachers too, Cypassis ?' The damsel answered in 
the affirmative. * Then go and see with Lydus and Anthrax 
about the plate necessary to be taken with us.' ^^ The hand- 
maidens departed. Lycoris was putting together some 
necessaries for the toilet, when the porter announced the 
messenger from Grallus. * At last ! ' said Lycoris. ' Admit 
him.' 

The ostiarius bade the person come in, and then 
retired to his post ; but the mysterious behaviour of the 
pretended tabellarius had made him uneasy, and he there- 
fore directed a female slave, who met him, to watch by the 
door of her mistress. The slave placed her ear against 



-* An accurate calculati'^n of the 
age of Lycoris in the year 728 a.u.c. 
is neither possible, nor of any im- 
portance here. If we suppose the 
EclogiMS of Virgil to hare been writ- 
ten 718 A.U.C., and that Lycoris was 
at that time a girl of fifteen, she 
would have been, at the period of 
the downfall of Grallus, of the age as- 
signed here to her, twenty-five. [If, 
as Serv. {on Virg. Eel. x. 1) states, 
and Hertzberg {Quast. Propertian. 
specim.) more recently affirms, Lyco- 
ris was identical with the ill -renowned 
paramour of Antonius, Cytheris (a 
freedwoman of Volumnius Eutrape- 
lus), she must have been of the same 
9ge as G alius, twenty-eight years old 



in 718, and not far removed from 
forty at the time of the death of Gal- 
lus. Eespecting Lycoris and Cythe- 
ris, see Cic. Phil. ii. 2-1 ; ad Alt. x. 
10, 16 ; ad Fayn. ix. 26 ; Plut. Ant. 
9 ; Plin. H. N. viii. 16 ; Schol. Crug. 
ad Hor. Sat. i. 2, 55, 10, 77.] 

^^ It is to be supposed that persons 
used to take their own plate with 
them, even on short journeys, because 
the inns, which could not be avoided, 
were but mean. Mart. vi. 94 : — 

Ponuntur semper chiysendeta Calpetiano, 
Sive foris, seu cum coenat in urbe domi. 
Sic etiam in stabulo semper, sic coenat in 
agro. 



G 2 



84 GALLUS. [Scene VI. 

the door, but the curtain within deadened the sounds, and 
she could hear nothing distinctly. At last their conversa- 
tion became more animated, and their voices louder ; the 
door opened, and the man hurried hastily away, disguised 
as he had entered. The attendant found Lycoris in the 
most extreme state of excitement. ^ We must away from 
hence this very night,' cried she. ' Send Lydus to me.' 
The slave received orders to hire two rhedce immediately. 
The preliminaries of the journey were then hastened, ^nd 
before the end of the third night-watch, Lycoris, with a 
portion of her slaves, was already beyond the Capenan 
srate. 



SCENE THE SEVENTH. 



A DAY IN BAI^. 

IF any place of antiquity could lay claim to be considered 
as the very abode of pleasure and free living, it assuredly 
was Baise,^ by far the most renowned bathing-place of Italy,- 
and selected equally by Aphrodite and Comus, as by Hy- 
gieia, for a favourite residence. Nature had decked the 
coast of Campania, on which Baise was situated, with all 
the charms of a southern climate. Art and the taste of the 
Eoman patricians had still further heightened the beauty 
of the landscape by the erection of magnificent villas. The 
lofty towers ^ of these gorgeous palaces which lined the 



' Baise asserted a decided pre- 
eminence amongst the numerous 
baths of Italy (whence Martial, vi. 
42, 7, amongst many other baths, 
mentions Bai principes, and its name 
is used by poets as an appellation 
for baths generally, Tibull. iii. 5, 3 ; 
Mart. X. 13, 3), and was considered 
by the ancients in general a most 
attractive place, and life there to be 
the most pleasant : 
Nullus in orbe sinus Baiis praelucet amoenis, 

says Horace, Epist. i. 1, 83 ; and all 
writers making mention of it conciu* 
in this eulogy. Mart. xi. 80. Andr. 
Baccius {de Thermis, p. 162) briefly 
extols its advantages. ' The city lay,' 
says he, ' on the left shore of the sea, 
surrounded by a circle of hills co- 
vered with green : to the north, at a 
distance of five Eoman miles {millia 
passuum), lay Cumge, three miles 
nearer the Lacus Avernus ; south- 
wards, distant three miles, was 



Misenum, and Puteoli, the same dis- 
tance across the bay. The extraor- 
dinary mildness of the climate made 
it an agreeable place of sojoiirn even 
in winter, and there was no season 
of the year when the trees did not 
present fruits, and the gardens flow- 
ers.' Comp. Strabo, v. 4, 187 ; Dio 
Cassius, xlviii. 51. 

^ By towers are to be understood 
parts of the house, built several sto- 
ries above the rest of the building, 
to allow of a distant prospect. Pliny 
had two such in his Laurentinum. 
He says of one (ii. 17, 12) : Hinc tur- 
ris erigitur, sub qua dicstfs dues, toti- 
dem in ipsa: proeterea ccenatio, quce 
latissimicm mare, longissimum litus, 
aTnoenissimas villas prospicit. So the 
turres (Tibull. i. 7, 19) appear tobe 
rightly explained by He;yTie. It may 
be well imagined that the villse 
around Baia?, the neighbourhood of 
which displayed everywhere the most 



86 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VII. 



coast commanded a view right across the bay to the open 
sea, whilst the villas of more humble pretensions, erected by 
the more serious men of former times,^ looked down like 
strong castles from the neighbouring heights. Just oppo- 
site, and in the direction of the not far distant Nauplia, lay 
the fair Puteoli. On the right, after doubling the promon- 
tory, was Misenum with its renowned haven, the station of 
the Eoman fleet. Close by lay Oumae, hallowed by ancient 
sages, and near the latter was the lake Avernus, which, 
with the smiling plain adjoining it, seemed to represent on 
earth the contrast between the terrors of Hades, and the 
happiness of Elysium. 

But fashion and the joyous mode of life, even more 
than the charms of the scenery, rendered Baise a most de- 
lightful place of sojourn. Besides invalids who hoped to 
obtain relief from the healing springs and warm sulphur- 
batns,'' there streamed thither a much larger number of 



magnificent views, were also provi- 
ded with such turres. The environs 
of Baise were not considered healthy, 
as we see from Cicero's letter to Do- 
labella (ix. 12), and therefore the 
villas were built as far out into the 
sea as possible, and probably higher 
than was usual. 

' Seneca, who took such offence at 
the mode of life at Baise, that he 
left on the second day after arriving 
there, praises the choice of those 
men. Ejpist. 51 : Uli quoque, adquos 
primos fortuna Jiomani 'populi pub- 
licas opes transtulit, C. Marius, et 
Cn. Pompeius, et Ctesar, extruxerunt 
quidem villas in Regione Baiana, sed 
illas imposuerunt summis jugis mon- 
tium. They looked more like castra 
than villce. But besides these there 
were splendid palaces built round 
the whole bay, which, with the towns 
lying upon it, presented the appear- 



ance of one vast city. Strabo, v. 4 : 
"Attos 8' ecrl KaTeaKsvaa/jLevos (6 koX- 
TTOS ) TovTO [j.\v Tois irSKeffiv, äs 
€(pafi€V, TOVTO Sh Ta7s o'iKoSoßlais koI 
^uT€iais, at fjLeTa^v aw^x^ts ovffai fjiiäs 
TrdAeco? oxj/iv iTap4xovTai. Cf. Dio 
Cass, above. 

* The springs at Baise were of very 
different ingredients, and the sana- 
tory powers manifold. Plin. xxxi. 2, 
2 : Ali(B sulp/mris, alice aluminis, 
alicB salis, alicB nitri, alice bituminis, 
nonmdlm etiam acida salsave mixtura, 
vapore quoque ipso cdiqucB prosunt. 
Chief of all were the hot sulphureous 
vapours which sprang up in many 
places, and particularly on the 
heights, and were used as baths to 
promote perspiration. Such suda- 
toria were situated not only in the 
town of Baise itself, but close to the 
spot where the vapours rose from 
the ground. Vitruv. ii. 6. hi mon- 



Scene VII. ] 



A DAY m BAI^. 



87 



persons in health, having no other end in view than the 
pursuit of pleasure, and who, leaving behind them the 
cares and formalities of life, resigned themselves wholly to 
enjoyment, in whatever shape it was offered. One continual 
saturnalia was there celebrated, in which even the more 
reserved suffered themselves to be carried away by the in- 
toxication of pleasure, whilst follies, which in Eome would 
have drawn down reproof, were scarcely regarded as impu- 
tations on character, or such only as the next bath would 
entirely efface. The intercourse between the sexes in 
society was of a much more free description, and none but 
a stoic would look askance when wanton hetcerce, sur- 
rounded by thoughtless youths, skimmed by, in gaudily- 
painted gondolas, while song and music resounded from 
the skiffs of many a troop of revellers, who were rocking 
lazily on the level surface of the bay. 

Of course pleasure did not always confine itself within 
the bounds of innocence, aod connubial fidelity doubtless 



tibus Cicmanorum et Baianis sunt loca 
sudationibus excavata,in quibus vapor 
fervidus ab imo nascens ignis vehe- 
mentia perforat earn terram,per eum- 
que manando in his locis oritur et ita 
siidationum egregias efficit utilitatcs. 
These hot streams of vapour were 
conducted by means of pipes into 
the buildings. Dio Cass, xlviii. 51 : 
T'(]V 5' aTjLtiSa avTOv h re oiK-fj/xara 
juerewpa (suspensuras) 5ta (TwKr\vuv 
avdyovffi, KavTavOa avrfi irvpiwvTai. Of 
this kind was the bath ad myrtcta, 
celebrated by Horace, Epist. i. 15, 5, 
which also lay oxitside the town, and 
probably on an eminence, for Celsus, 
ii. 17, says : Siccus calor est — qua- 
rundam naturalium sudationum, ubi 
a terra prof usus calidtcs vapor cedi- 
ficio includitur, sicut super Baias in 
myrtetis habemus. If the bath was 
yisited by numerous invalids on ac- 



count of the efficacy of its waters, 
yet, doubtless, far greater numbers 
came from Eome, merely for the sake 
of pleasure, to Naples and the neigh- 
boxu"hood, which seemed places cre- 
ated entirely for a life of ease and 
pleasiu-e. Strab. v. 4 : Bo/at /coi ra 
6epfj.a vara, ra Koi irphs rpvcprjv koI 
irphs Gepa-Kaiau vScrwv eirirri^eia. Dio 
Cassius, supra. KaraaK^vai re oZv 
Trepl aix(p6repa iroXvT(Ae7s T](TKT}UTat, 
Kol eaTLV es re ßiov diaywyTjv ical is 
&Ke(nu eViTTjSetoTaTa. Hence Cicero 
also (pro Coel. 20) especially dwells 
on the free manner in which Clodia 
demeaned herself, not only in urbe, 
in hortis, but in Baiarum ilia celebri- 
tate. Whenever it is desired to fix 
the number of visitors at a bath, 
Uaise is taken as a scale to go by. 
Strab. V. 2. 



88 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VII. 



underwent severe trials,^ to which it not unfrequently 
yielded. If we consider, besides, that the sight of a 
drunken man, fresh from the daily or nightly debauch, was 
by no means uncommon,^ and that gambling was carried 
to a great height, it will not appear strange that a severe 
moralist should have pronounced the captivating spot to 
be 'a seat of voluptuousness, and a harbour of vice.' ^ Still 
it must not be overlooked, that this reputation was in a 
great measure attributable to the publicity with which 
pleasure was pursued, as well as to a reckless display of 
folly, and that the wantonness there concentrated in one 
spot, and wholly unveiled to the public eye, was perhaps 



^ The warning uttered by Proper- 
tius, i. 11, 27, to Cynthia, is well 
known : — 
Tu modo quamprimum corruptas des ere 



Multis ista dabunt litora dissidium ; 
Litora quae fuerant castis inimica puellis : 
Ah, pereant Baiee, crimen amoris, aquae. 

Martial jokes on a case at Baise, of 
a Penelope becoming transformed 
into a Helen, i, 63 : — 

Casta nee antiquis cedens Laevina Sabinis, 

Et quamvis tetrico tristior ipsa viro, 
Dum modo Lucrino, modo se permittit 
Averno, 
Et dum Baianis s^pe fovetur aquis ; 
Inoidit in flammas, juvenemque secuta re- 
licto 
Conjuge Penelope venit, abit Helene. 

^ Baias sihi celebrandas luxuria 
desuvisit, says Seneca, Ep. 51 ; and 
his picture of the life there is true in 
the main, although drawn in some- 
what glowing colours : Videre ebrias 
•per litora err antes, et comissationes 
navigantium et symphoniarum can- 
tibus jperstrejpentes lacus, et alia, 
qu(B velut soluta legibus luxuria non 
tantum peccat, sed publicat, quid 
necesse est ? We see, however, that 
such charges as these did not apply 



first to the more debauched time of 
the emperors, for Coelius has similar 
imputations cast upon him by his ac- 
cusers. Cic. pro Coel. 15: Accusatores 
qiddem lihidines, amores, adulteria, 
Baias, actas, convivia, comissationes, 
cantus, symphonias, navigia jactant. 
See further Cicero in Clod. 4 ; ad Fam. 
ix. 2. Seneca particularly adverts 
to the fact that people made an open 
display of their debauchery, and Ci- 
cero corroborates his statement, at 
least as regards Clodia, ibid. 20 : Ni- 
hil igitur ilia vicinitas redolct ? nihil 
hominum fama ? nihil Baia denique 
ipscs loquuntur ? illw vero non loquun- 
ttir solum, verum etiam personant, 
hcec unius mulieris libidinem esse 
prolapsam, ut ea non modo solitu- 
dinem ac tenebras atque hcec flagi- 
tiorum integumenta non queer at, sed 
in turpissimis rebus frequentissima 
celebritate et clarissima luce Icetetur. 
What this woman did at Baise would 
not have happened so publicly at 
Kome. 

^ Seneca, in the often mentioned 

letter : diversorium vitiorum. 



Scene VII.] A DAT IN BAT^. 89 

less deserving of reprobation than the licentiousness which, 
in the metropolis, was hidden in darkness and carried on in 
secrecy. The judgment thus pronounced on life in Baise 
resembles generally that passed by Poggi, at the end of 
the fifteenth century, on Baden in Switzerland. It might 
almost be fancied from his description, that the antique 
mode of living had obtained an asylum beyond the Alps, 
and that the manners of Baiee existed at Baden, in all 
their grace and refinement, for centuries after they had 
died away in their native abodes, and after the whirl of de- 
lights, that had animated this once favourite spot, had been 
succeeded by a mournful desolation. Poggi could find 
nothing repulsive in the unrestrained merriment of Baden, 
in the intercourse of the sexes, and even in the baths there 
common to them both. So, for the same reasons, many 
an imputation cast on Baise may admit of being softened, 
provided the customs of those times be not judged by those 
of the present day, nor a general depravity be inferred 
from individual irregularities. 

Lycoris had been already some days in Baiae without 
having informed Grallus of her arrival ; for though very 
desirous of seeing him again, she was at the same time in 
the most painful state of indecision as to whether she 
should reveal to him, or keep concealed, the occurrence of 
that evening, 

Pomponius had sadly deceived himself. Having been 
forbidden the house, he determined to obtain entrance by 
personating a messenger from Gallus, in order to prevent 
her intended journey to Baiae. With this view he caused 
her residence to be watched during the remainder of the 
day after his conversation with Dromo. As nobody entered 
it who could give intelligence of the departure of Grallus, 
and only a few of the slaves of Lycoris had gone into the 
neighbouring tabernce to purchase things that happened to 
be wanted, or to fetch clothes from the fullo, he fancied 
himself perfectly secure. He dreamt not that old Chresi- 
mus, immediately after receiving his orders, had dispatched 



90 



GALLUS. 



[Scene YII. 



his vicarius to Lycoris to carry her the sum of money 
destined for her use, and inform her of the whole plan of 
the journey. 

Pomponius entered the presence of Lycoris, imder the 
pretence that Grallus had sent him to tell her by word of 
mouth, that he wished her to remain at Eome during his 
absence, or go to the Tuscan^ baths. But when, wrongly 
interpreting her astonishment, he proceeded to excite her 
jealousy by hinting that the beautiful Chione had accom- 
panied Gallus to Campania, and, taking advantage of her 
increasing displeasure, approached confidingly, and con- 
jured her to renew their former liaison — the enormit}^ of 
his schemes was at once revealed to her. Full of wrath, 
she spurned him from her, and stated how well she was 
acquainted with the wishes of Gallus, who had summoned 
her to meet him at Baige on the following day. Pompo- 
nius was surprised, but became sensible at once that the 
whole apartment showed signs of an approaching journey. 
' To Baise,' said he, scornfully, ' and then for a cooling to 
the snow-fields of Moesia ! Out of the thermce into the 
frigidarium ! ' '•* 



* Italy was, and is still, rich in both 
warm and cold medicinal springs ; 
especially Campania and Etrnria. Of 
the latter, Strabo speaks, v. 2 : IloA- 
\^ Se Koi TU)v B^pfxSov vMtcov a- 
ipdovia Kara tV Tvpf>1^viau, airep Tcp 
irXriaiou eJj/at rrjs 'Pw/itjs ovx Vttou 
evauSpe^ rwu iu Batais & diccuofxaar- 
rai iroXv "ndvTcav fxaAKTra. Mart. 
vi. 42, mentions a number of spas, 
which must all have had a certain 
celebrity, since he compares them 
with the thermcs Etrusci: — 

Nee fontes Aponi rudes puellis, 
Non mollis Sinuessa, fervidique 
Fluctus Passeris, aiit superbus Anxur, 
Non Phcebi vada, principesque Baiaz. 

Of these, four belong to Campania 
and its environs, and only one, Phcebi 



vada, CmretancB aqua, to Etruria. 
But several, as the cold aquca Clu- 
since, could not be compared with the 
thermae generally. Naples also had 
warm baths, which, however, ;from 
its proximity to Baise, were not much 
frequented. Strab. v. 4 : ''Ex^i 8e koX 
7] NeaTToAiS B^pjxiav vdarwu eKßokas 
Kai KaracTKevas Kovrpchv oil ;^€ipovs 
TCtJi/ eV Bd'iais, iroXv Se rep TrK^6ei 
A€i7roju.eVas. 

^ The punishment of banishment 
was rendered more severe under the 
emperors, and even as early as the 
time of Augustus, by the convict 
being not only expelled from Italy, 
but also exiled to some fixed spot in 
a distant region. Moesia, on the con- 



Scene VII.] 



A DAY IN BAI^. 



91 



'Villain!' cried the enraged Lycoris, well guessing the 
meaning of his words, ' worthless betrayer, whom I have 
long seen through ! Away ! leave my presence, and be 
assured that, before three days are past, G-allus shall be 
undeceived about you ! ' 

^As you will,' replied he, with malicious coldness ; 'and 
if you lack evidence I will add a testimony from the co- 
lumna lactaria.'' 

Lycoris turned pale. Profiting by her confusion, Pom- 
ponius was again about to approach her, when he was in- 
terrupted by a noise from the slave who was listening at 
the door. He then hastily drew the pcenula over his 
head, and hurried away. 

His threats had not failed in their effect. Fearful of 
some new audacity, Lycoris set out the same night from 
Eome. Convinced, however, as she was, of the necessity 
of warning Grallus against this traitor, she hesitated to see 
him, for she greatly dreaded to make confession of her 
former guilt. On the third evening she sat afSicted in her 
own apartment. By her side w^ere two female slaves, 
busy, the one in loosening her braided hair, and letting it 
fall in long ringlets over her shoulders and neck, prepara- 
tory to collecting it in the golden caul; the other, in un- 
tying the snow-white thongs of her shoes. On the floor 
stood a tall bronze candelabrum, partly of Tarentine, and 
partly of -^ginetan, workmanship. A beautifully-formed 
winged sphinx surmounted the delicately-fluted shaft, and 
bore the plate, decorated with the ornaments of the Ionic 
capital,^^ upon which was an elegant two-flamed lamp of 
the same metal, which sufiiciently illuminated the small 



fines of the Eoman empire, was as 
terrible to the Romans as Siberia is 
to a Russian. Ovid, who was banished 
thither, complained bitterly of its cli- 
mate and the practices adopted there. 

" This description is taken from a 



particTilarly elegant bronze candela- 
brum, somewhat more than five palms 
in height, given in the Mks. Borh. 
iv. t. 57, a copy of which, with fur- 
ther information on the subject, is 
given in the Excursus on the tenth 
scene, The Lighting. 



92 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VII. 



chamber. Against one wall there stood an elegant couch 
covered ^vith purple, on which Lycoris could recline during 
the evening, whilst her two handmaidens, employed at 
their looms, entertained her with the various gossip of 
the day. Close to this was a small three-footed table, on 
which the slave had recently placed a crystal ewer of fresh 
spring- water. 

The attendant had just taken the shoes from the feet of 
her mistress, when footsteps were heard at the door. The 
curtain was drawn back, and Grallus entered. With a cry 
of joy Lycoris sprang up from the cathedra, and with bare 
feet and dishevelled hair, as she was, threw herself upon 
the neck of her lover. ^^ 



Grallus had learned from the slaves who followed him 
to the villa, the hurried departure of Lycoris, and was glad 
of the opportunity of surprising her, when quite unpre- 
pared to receive hira. Intending only to spend a few 
days in Baise, he had hired lodgings above the grand bath, 
where rooms for strangers were always ready. '^ This 
abode was certainly none of the quietest, for the apart- 
ments beneath resounded very early in the morning with 
the most unpleasant noises. At Baise, whence all serious 



1» SeeTibull. i. 3, 89:— 

Tunc veniam subito, nee quisquam nun- 
tiet ante, 
Sed videar coelo missus adesse tibi. 
Tunc mihi, qualis eris, longos turbata ca- 
pillos, 
Obvia nudato, Delia, curre pede. 

^- There were several public baths 
in and aronncl Baise, and above them 
were lodgings for the reception of 
strangers ( chamhres g amies). See 
Seneca, Epist. 56 : Ecce varius cla- 
mor undique me circumsonat : supra 
ipsum balneum habito. Another story 



was probably erected over the baths. 
Hence we find in a rescript of Sep- 
timius Severus and Antoninus, Cod. 
Just. viii. 10, 1 : Et balneum, ut de- 
sideras, exstruere, et (sdificium ei 
superponere potes, observata tarnen 
forma, qua cceteris super balneum 
(sdificare permittitur, &c. There were 
besides people who made a trade of 
letting out lodgings to strangers, as 
was also the case in Eome. This was 
called coenacidariam exercere ( Dig. 
ix. 3, 5), which, of course, compre- 
hends the lodgers living in the place. 



Scene VII.] 



A DAY m BAI^. 



thouglits were banished, people used to bathe as their 
pleasure alone dictated, and not merely during the later 
hours of the day. Many, indeed, might be seen splashing 
about in the swimming baths two or three times in the 
course of the day : hence the noise of the baths was end- 
less. ^^ The sphceristerimn resounded with the cries of the 
exhilarated ball-players, and the loud groans of those 
who were swinging the heavy leaden weights, and the 
baths re-echoed with the splash of swimmers, or the sud- 
den plunge of divers. Here one person was complacently 
making trial of his voice in a song, there another was 
engaged in hot dispute, or perhaps a loud cry was raised 
after a thief who had been detected in stealing^^ some of 
the clothes of the bathers. If the hour of coena or pran- 
diwni were approaching, the sellers of provisions might be 
heard, offering their goods. Libarii with sweet cakes, 
crustularii with the favourite slices of toasted honey-bread, 
hotularii with sausages, as well as the servants of the 
numerous tabernce about the baths, with eggs, laduca, 
lacertce, and other dishes, — all loudly eulogizing the excel- 
lence of their articles, and each uttering his commenda- 
tions in his own peculiar cry.^^ 



^^ The whole account is from Sen- 
eca {Ep. 56), who was compelled to 
hear the distiixbance. 

^* The more affluent were attended 
to the bath by a slave, who not only 
carried the necessary utensils, but 
also watched the clothes of his mas- 
ter. So says Martial (xii. 70), of 
Aper even, who was by no means 
"wealthy : — 

Lintea ferret Apro vatius cum vemula nu- 
per, 
Et supra togulam lusca sederet anus. 

There were, besides, persons in the 
baths appointed to take care of the 
garments, ca/psarii. Pauli. Di^. i. 
15, 3 : Adversus capsarios quoque, 



qui mercede servanda in balineis ves- 
timenta suscipiiint, judex est consti- 
tutus (prsef. vig.) In spite of this 
it often happened that the bathers 
had their clothes stolen from them. 
Plaut. Bud. ii. 3, 51 :— 

Sein' tu etiam : qui it lavatum 
In balineas ibi cum sedulo sua vestimenta 

servat, 
Tarnen surripiuntur. 

Catull. 30 : fur optime balneario- 
rum. Hence in the Pandects there 
is a special head, xlvii. 17 : Be fu- 
ribus balneariis. Comp, also Petron. 
30, where the slave complains : Sub- 
ducta sibi vestimenta dispensatoris in 
balneo. 

^^ Just as we have people crying 



94 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VII. 



Grallüs took advantage of the morning to bathe, as an 
excursion on the lake with Lycoris had been arranged for 
the time of the prandium. The decoration of the saloons, 
especially of those in which the frescoes on the walls and 
ceilings were not exposed to injury from heat or damp, 
was far superior to that of any similar establishment in 
the metropolis. The natural springs were warm, but there 
were also cold baths for those who preferred bathing in 
clear spring-water, rather than in the muddy white'-^ 
streams of the thermce. At each end of the frigidarium 
was a huge lion's head of bronze, from which flowed the 
water, transparent as air, into large marble-sided cisterns,*^ 



their wares in the streets, so were 
there persons of this description to 
be found in the baths, as mentioned 
by Seneca : Jam libarii varias excla- 
mationes, et botularium, et crustu- 
larium, et omnes popinarum insti- 
tores, mercem suam quadam et in- 
signita modulatione vendentes. "We 
find the receipt for making the liba 
in Cato, de Re Bustica, 75. But 
it was not always of such simple in- 
gredients, and the word frequently 
seems to be identical with 'placenta. 
At least Isid. Orig. xx. 2, 17, says: 
Flacenta sunt, qucB fiunt de farre, 
quas alii liba dicunt. So crustula 
also, known through Horat. Sat. i. 1, 
25, denotes, perhaps, pastry-work 
generally, dulcia. Comp. Euperti, 
Juven. ix. 5. The explanation of the 
scholiast in both passages is simply 
placentcB. Many persons took a pro- 
mulsio in the bath. Martial, xii. 19 : 
In ttermis sumit lactucas, ova, lacertum. 
"We may conclude from Seneca, Epist. 
51 : Quemadmodum inter tortores ha- 
bitare nolim, sic nee inter popinas 
quidem, and Mart. v. 70, that there 
were all sorts of eating-houses around 
the baths. The servants from these 



popincs xised to offer their eatables 
for sale in the halls of the bath. 
There were certainly among the ta- 
berncB lying around the bath at Pom- 
peii, such eating-houses. 

'•* Perfectly clear water was a main 
desideratum at the bath, and it seems 
that they even cleared it by artificial 
means when it came muddy through 
the pipes. Seneca says, Epist. 86, of 
more ancient times compared with 
his own : Nee referre credebant, in 
quam perlucida sordes deponerent ; 
and of Scipio : Non saccata aqua la- 
vabatur, sed scspe turbida et, cum 
plueret vehementius, pane lutulenta. 
For this reason Martial commends 
the purity of the aqua Martia in the 
balneum Etrusci, vi. 42, 19: — 

Quae tam Candida, tarn serena lucet, 
Ut nuUas ibi suspiceris undas. 
Et credas vacuam nitere Lygdon. 
Comp. Stat. i. 5, 51, seqq. On the 
contrary, the warm springs of Baise 
were of a muddy white. Martial, 
vi. 43 :— 

Dum tibi felices indulgent, Castrice, BaifB, 
Canaque sulpliureis lympha natatur 
aquis. 

'^ Such was the arrangement of the 



i 



Scene VII.] 



A DAY IN BAI^. 



95 



the party-coloured stone bottoms of whicli miglit be clearly 
discerned. At intervals attractive pictures were placed, 
contrasting with the yellow colour of the rest of the walls, ^^ 
and through the roof, richly adorned with reliefs, the blue 
sky was reflected in the limpid flood. Grallus entrusted his 
clothes to the slave who carried after him the ointment 
vessels, strigiles, and linen cloths,^^ and joined in the plea- 
sures of those who were refreshing themselves in the trans- 
parent waters. After which, he was anointed with oils of 
a sweet perfume in the adjoining tepidarium, and then 
went to conduct Lycoris on the intended excursion. 

On the shore of the Lucrine lake,^° whence these expe- 
ditions generally started, Gallus found, among many others. 



bath described by Sidouius, Epist. 
ii. 2 : In hanc ergo piscinam fluvium 
de supercilio montis elicitum et canal- 
ibus circumactis per exterior a na- 
tatorim latera curvatum sex fistuJm 
prominentes leonum simulatis capi- 
tibus effundunt, quae tenure ingressis 
veras dentium crates, meros oculo- 
rum furores, certas cervicwn jubas 
imaginabuntur. 

^^ The frigidarium in Pompeii, 
too, was yellow, though not furnished 
with paintings. 

'» In the Mus. Pio-Clem. iii. t. 
35, we see such a slave carrying an 
oil-flask and strigil. This gives a 
perfect commentary on Persius, v. 
126: — 
I, puer, et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer. 

^^ The Lucrine lake, as it was 
called, was nothing but a bay reach- 
ing far inland, and separated from 
the sea by a narrow dam, and though 
often called by the Roman writers 
lacus, is named by the Greeks, köKttqs. 
See Strabo, v. 4 : 'O 5e AoKpivos k6k- 
iTOS irKarvveraL fx^xpi^ Baiwv, x^H-'^'^'- 



elpySfxepos airh t^s l|a) OaXaTrrjs 
OKTaffTadicf rh fxr}Kos, ttAoltos 5e 
a/xa^iTov TrXareias. Yficnr^ovv S' 
ex^i- TrXoiois iAa(ppo7s, ivopixicraadai 
(JL€U axpTjcTTOS. Twv o(TTp€0)v Se Qiipav 
^xoov a(pQovwräTT]v. Lake Avernus 
was connected with it, ib. Ta?s Se 
'Qaiais (rvuex^is o re AoKpTvos koKttos 
Kal iuTOs TOVTOV 6 "Aopj/os x^PP'^^V- 
(TOP Tvoiwv T7]v aTToXa^xßavoixeprju fi4- 
Xpt Micrrivov yriv ärrh rrjs TreAayias 
TTJs /xera^v Kvixrjs Kal avrov. On 
both, parties of pleasure used to be 
made, as may be gathered from Mar- 
tial, i. 63, 3 :— 

Dum modo Lucriuo, modo se permittet 
Averno : 

but especially on the Lucrine lake, 
which, from its calmness, was also 
called stagnum. Id. iii. 20, 20 : — 

An Eestuantes jam profectus ad Baias 
Piger Lucriuo nauculatur in stagno ? 

Comp. Ovid, Art. Am. i. 255, seqq. 
The navigia in Cicero and Seneca 
allude to this, and on this account it 
is called by Mart. vi. 43, oyioUis Lti- 
crinus. [Agrippa united the Lucrine 
and Avernian lakes with the sea, 
Dio Cass, xlviii. 50; Suet. Oct. 16.] 



96 



GALLÜS. 



[Scene VII. 



the boat which had been hired for him. It was the pret- 
tiest there, and had Aphrodite herself designed it for her 
own use, she would not have decorated it otherwise.^^ 
The gay painting of the planks, the purple sails, the 
rigging entwined with garlands of fresh leaves and roses, 
the merry music sounding from the prow, everything, in 
short, invited to joy and pleasure. In the after part of the 
skiff, a purple awning was erected on tall thyrsus-staves, 
and under it stood a richly loaded table, offering all the 
enjoyments of a most perfect prandium that the foTuni 
cupedinarium of Baige could supply. 

Lycoris went the short distance to the lake in a lectica, 
whilst Grallus repaired thither on foot with two friends 
whom he had accidentally met. The lady looked lovely as 
the goddess of flowers, as she alighted. Over her snow- 
white tunica were thrown the ample folds of an amethyst- 
coloured pallet ; round her hair, which was most skilfully 
arranged, and fastened with an elegant gold pin in the 
shape of a winged amor, was entwined a chaplet of roses. 
A gorgeous and curiously twisted necklace adorned her fair 
neck, and from it depended a string of pearls also set in 
gold, while golden bracelets, in the form of serpents, in 
whose eyes glittered fiery rubies, encircled her well- 
rounded arms. Thus led by Grallus, with her right foot 



2' The skiffs decked with various 
ornaments are likewise mentioned 
by Seneca, Ep. 51 : Hahitaturum tu 
putas unquam, fuisse in Utica Ca- 
tonem, ut prcBternavigantes adidteras 
dinumeraret et adspiceret tot genera 
cymbarum varus colorihiis picta et 
fluitantem tot lacu rosariis; ut audiret 
canentium nocturna convicia? The 
purple sails are, it is true, not men- 
tioned, yet such a species of luxury 
is easily conceivable at Baise. Call 
to mind only what Pliny writes (xix. 
1, 5) of Alexander's fleet and of 
Antony : Stupuerunt litora flatu 



versicoloria implente. Velo purpu- 
reo ad Actium cum M. Antonio Cleo- 
patra venit eodcmque effugit. And 
Caligida had vessels built of still 
larger size, Liburnicas, versicoloribus 
velis. Seneca's words, fluitantem toto 
lacu rosam, can scarcely be taken in 
their proper acceptation, but seem 
rather to allude to the companies 
garlanded with roses, and the adorn- 
ing of the vessels. The words in 
which he and Cicero mention music 
on board of vessels, have been al- 
ready quoted. 



Scene VII.] 



A DAY AT BAI^. 



97 



first, ^^ in compliance with tlie warning cry of the boatmen, 
she entered the festive boat. The light vessel started 
merrily into the lake, where the occupants of a hundred 
others exchanged greetings as they passed. They rocked 
for some hours on the tranquil mirror, whilst the men 
indulged with uncommon relish in fresh oysters from the 
lake, which they washed down with the noble Falernian 
wine. They then returned to Baise, where, after another 
bath, Grallus spent a delightful evening in the abode of his 
love. Its stillness was however disturbed, till a late hour 
of the night, by the noise of the tahernce, and the serenade 
of many a lover,^^ singing, unheard, at the closed doors of 
his adored one. 



2- It was one of the innumerable 
superstitions of the ancients to go 
with the right foot foremost into any- 
place. Petron. 30. His repleti vo- 
Ivptatibus quum conaremur iii tricli- 
nium intrare, exclamavit units ex 
jpueris, qui swper hoc officium erat 
■positus: Dextro jpede. The precept 
of Vitruvius, iii. 8, is worth attention : 
Gradus in fronte constituendi sunt, 
ut semper sint impares: narnque, cum 
dextro pede primus gradus asccndi- 
tur, idem in summo templo primus 



er it ponendus. Juvenal also, x. 5, 
alludes to this, 

. . . quid tarn pede dextro concipis, utte 
Conatus non pceniteat votique peracti. 

Other instances have been cited by 
Broukh, on Prop. iii. 1, 6. 

2^ It is not necessary to determine 
whether the canentium nocturna con- 
vicia, in Seneca, Ep. 51, refer only to 
such serenades ; but at all events th'^ 
custom is a well-known one, and they 
cannot be omitted. 



SCENE THE EIGHTH. 



THE DISPLEASUEE OF AUGUSTUS. 

GALLUS passed a few days at Baise with Lycoris and 
some friends, who happened to be there, in the enjoy- 
ment of the agreeable diversions of which the place afforded 
a rapid succession. He then returned to his villa, where 
Lycoris promised soon to join him. Hence all were in a 
bustle at the villa, some in arranging the apartments des- 
tined for the fair one, in the most pleasant manner possible, 
others in decking out afresh her favourite spots in the 
park, and contriving here and there something new to 
surprise her. Gallus repaired early in the morning to that 
lovely spot, where, amidst a cluster of rose-bushes, a 
charming statue of Flora had been erected during his 
absence ; the goddess was placed, as it were, in the very 
centre of her kingdom, holding dominion over the lovely 
creations of her power. She was clad in a light and 
almost transparent tunica^ loosely confined by a girdle 
which had carelessly sunk down to her hips. Her left 
hand grasped its deeply-falling border, in such a manner 
that the blooming exuberance of the figure might be more 
than guessed at : ^ her right hand held a luxuriant garland 



' The beautiful torso found at the 
"baths of Caracalla, and known as the 
Farnese Flora, served as the model 
for this description. Mus. Borb. ii. 
tab. 26. The master-works of Gre- 
cian art were often mutilated before 
they came to Rome, where skilful 
artists were fortunately found to re- 
store them. So says Pliny xxxvi. 5. 
4, Timothei manu Diana Bomce 
est in Palatio, Apollinis delubro, cui 
signo caput reposuit Aulanius Evan- 
dtr. Pictures too were restored, but 



sometimes spoiled by the incompe- 
tency of the persons employed, as the 
Tragmdus et puer of Aristides (Plin. 
XXXV. 10, 36); and it was fortunate 
when the exquisiteness of the work 
deterred artists from attempting to 
render it complete, as was the case 
with the Venus of Apelles : cujus 
inferiorem partem corruptam qui refi- 
ceret, non potuit reperiri. We must 
not be astonished at finding, even at 
that period, a head after life set on 
an ideal statue ; although it was not 



Scene VIII.] DISPLEASUEE OP AUGUSTUS. 



99 



of flowers, destined, it would seem, to encircle the temples 
of a most lovely head, the position of which in this spot 
had a particular significancy. Grallus had purchased a 
splendid specimen of art in a mutilated state, and had 
supplied the wanting head by that of his beautiful mistress. 
The likeness of Lycoris was well caught, and whatever 
might have been the conception of the original sculptor, 
the expression of the countenance, as it now stood, corre- 
sponded admirably with the blooming figure and propor- 
tions of the rest of the statue. 

Grallus was occupied in giving some additional orders 
about the surrounding scene, when a slave announced that 
a courier from Pomponius had arrived, and desired to speak 
with him. He seemed to be in haste, it was added, for he 
had travelled in a light cisium.'^ Grallus commanded him 
to be introduced, and awaited his appearance with some 
uneasiness, as he thought that something important must 



till somewhat later that the scanda- 
lous abuses of the works of Grecian 
art became prevalent ; when, for in- 
stance, Caligula designed placing a 
head of himself upon the Olympic 
Zeus by Phidias, Suet. Cal. 22, 57 ; 
when Claudius caused the head of 
Alexander to be cut out of a picture 
by Apelles, and that of Augustus to 
be substituted for it, Plin. xxxv. 10, 
36 ; and when Commodus set the head 
of himself upon a colossus 110 feet 
high, (not that of Rhodes, which has 
never been set up again, but that 
which Nero caused Zenodorus to erect 
as a portrait of himself, and which 
was changed under Vespasian or 
Hadrian into a god of the sun), Plin. 
xxxiv. 7, 18; Spart. Hadr. 19 ; Lam- 
prid. Commod. 17; Herodian,i. 15. It 
does not matter here whether theFar- 
nese statue really represents a Plora, 
on which point opinions differ, as 
there is no reason why this goddess 



might not at least have been repre- 
sented in such a manner. 

- Augustus had, it is true, estab- 
lished a kind of post commimication 
between the provinces and Rome, but 
only for the business of the state. 
Suet. Aug. 49. Et qtco celerius ac 
sub mamim annuntiari cognoscique 
posset, quid in jprovincia quaque gere- 
retur, juvenes primo modicis inter- 
vallis per rnilitares vias, dehinc 
vehicula deposuit. Commodius id 
visum est ut qui a loco eidem per- 
ferrent literas interrogari qicoque, 
sic quid res exigerent, possent. The 
state post afterwards received a great 
improvement. — There were also cou- 
riers. It is very natural that private 
persons in urgent cases should have 
dispatched tabellarii in vehicles which 
were easily obtained in the towns 
along the great roads. See the Ex- 
cursus on the Lectica and Carriages. 



h2 



100 GALLUS. [Scene VIIL 

have happened to cause Pomponiiis to dispatch a special 
messenger, instead of availing himself of the constant 
communication that took place between the villa and his 
house in Eome. 

The tahellarius having entered and delivered his letter, 
and the seal having been found correct, Grallus cut asunder 
the thread. The tablet contained only a few words. 
* Caesar is in the worst possible humour,' wrote Pomponius; 
^severe decrees against you, and even banishment, are 
talked of. Hasten as quickly as possible to Eome, in order 
by your presence to prevent the impending blow, or, if too 
late for that, to take measures for rendering it ineffec- 
tual. Calpurnius is beside himself, and thinks of nothing 
but revenge. You can count on him and the rest of 
us ; — but speed.' 

The tahellarius had stealthily watched him whilst he 
was reading these lines, and seemed prepared for the deep 
impression which was visible in every feature of the as- 
tounded G-allus. 'What answer shall I take to my master?' 
inquired he of the latter, who seemed struck dumb. 

' Take him my thanks,' replied Grallus, collecting him- 
self, 'and inform him that I shall soon be in Eome myself.' 

The slave departed. ' Impossible ! ' cried Gallus, as he 
handed the letter to Chresimus, who had just approached. 
' What guilt will they charge me with ? Have we come to 
such a pass, that a tyrant's bad humour and irritability 
shall be sufficient ground for driving a free and deserving 
man into want and wretchedness ? No, no ! Pomponius, in 
his anxiety for his friend's fate, paints in too gloomy 
colours. Do you not think so, Chresimus ?' 

The old domestic tremblingly returned the letter, and 
tears filled his eyes. ' The gods send this blow,' said he, 
with stifled accents ; ' but there is no lack of wicked men, 
and of false friends, also,' added he significantly. 

' Foolish suspicion ! ' replied' Grallus. ' Are you like 
Lycoris, who not long since tried to criminate my friend ? 
Can you not be convinced by this letter, which gives me 



Scene VIII.] DISPLEASURE OF AUGUSTUS. 



101 



timely warning, while so many, under far greater obliga- 
tions to me, carelessly allow the precious moments to 
elapse without sending information of my danger ? ' 

' That Pomponius should have gained earlier intelligence 
of it than my vigilant Leonidas, who knows a hundred 
ways of catching what people say of you, is exactly what 
astonishes me. Would he have been less speedy in giving 
you information ?' 

* Enough ! ' said Grallus, angrily. ' Prepare for departure. 
You must accompany me. Select the lightest cisium 1 
have, and send off one of my Numidians in advance, to 
order everywhere the necessary relays of horses. Above all, 
take care that no one learns the cause of my journey.' 



Chresimus was right. No one but Pomponius, who had 
himself devised the secret treachery by which Gallus was 
to fall, could have obtained such early intelligence of the 
success of his schemes. Nevertheless, his plans had only 
half succeeded ; for lieavy as were the complaints brought 
against Grallus, and skilfully as his unguarded expressions 
had been made use of to prove him a traitor and parti- 
cipator in a conspiracy, yet Augustus had not been able 
to prevail upon himself to annihilate one whom he had 
formerly esteemed. Largus and Pomponius had counted 
on his banishment, but Augustus had confined himself 
to forbidding the accused to visit his palace, or stay in 
his provinces.^ 

So far, his accusers had not gained much ; but they 



' Suet. Aug. 76. Ob ingratum ct 
malevolum animum domo et provin- 
ciis suis interdixit. Augustus often 
did this. Seneca {de ira, iii. 23) re- 
lates of Timagenes, who had spoken 
against him : Sape ilium Casar mo- 
nmt, ut moderatius lingua utere- 
tur : perseveranti domo sua inter- 



dixit. Tiberius says, (Tac. Ann. 
iii. 12), odero seponamque a domo 
mm, et privatas inimicitias non m 
principis ulciscar ; and ib. vi. 29. 
Morem fuisse majoribus, quotiens 
dirimerent amicitias, interdicere do- 
ono eumque finem gratics ponere- 
Under Augustus such a renouncement 



102 



GALLUS. 



[SCEKE VIII. 



hoped that in his exasperation he would be led on to 
further steps, which might form the basis of severer accu- 
sations. On this account his presence at Eome was de- 
sirable, and so Pomponius had tried to coovince him of the 
necessity of returning thither, before the imperial edict 
was made known. On the very first report of it, Leonidas 
had despatched a messenger to inform Grallus of the cir- 
cumstance. This man met him on the road to Eome, and 
acquainted him with the position in which matters stood. 

Though in some measure deriving comfort from the 
assurance that extreme measures, such as banishment, 
with its attendant ills of want and misery, were not to 
be feared, yet the humiliation of his position made the 
strongest impression on his mind. Banishment would have 
bowed him down deeply, but the disgrace of being for- 
bidden the house of him to whose exaltation he had so 
mainly contributed, whose confidant in lighter as well as 
more important affairs he had always been, and the thought 
of being viewed by his arrogant rivals with scorn, as a 
fallen favourite, awoke his pride in all its intensity. The 
news made a different impression on Chresimus, who sym- 
pathising heartily with his lord, yet hoped that Augustus 
would soon be convinced of the invalidity of the accusa- 
tions, and that Grallus might, by the intercession of true 
friends, be restored to his former position. 

By the evening of the second day they had reached 
Eome, where the domestics, who had been left there, in- 
formed by the Numidian courier of their master's return. 



of friendship [remmciare amicitiam) 
■was not followed by the desertion of 
others. Of Timagenes, Seneca says : 
Postea in contubernio Pollionis Asi- 
nii consenuit, ac tota civitate dilec- 
tus est : nullum Uli Ihnen prceclusa 
CcBsaris domus abstulit. — Nemo ami- 
citiam ejus extimuit ; nemo quasi fid- 
guritum rpfvgit. In Seneca's time 
it was therefore clearly otherwise. — 



Although Gallus was forbidden to 
reside in the provinces of Augustus, 
(Suet. 47; Dio Cass. liii. 12), there 
was nothing to prevent him from 
remaining in Rome and Italy. Clau- 
dius was the first to issue the decree : 
ut hi, quibus a magistratibus pro- 
vincicB interdicerentur, tirbe quoque 
et Italia submoverentur. Suet. Claud. 
23. 



Scene VIII.] DISPLEASURE OF AUGUSTUS. 103 

were waiting for him. Grallus did not receive the imperial 
edict, as it had been sent to his villa, but there was no 
doubt about the fact of its having been issued, and some 
even professed to have already observed the effects of this 
declaration of Augustus. Grallus resolved to consult his 
friends on the following day as to the line of conduct best 
adapted to his difficult situation. 

The morning of this day was far more quiet than was 
usual in the house of Grallus. The sunbeams were already 
gleaming into the sleeping-apartment, where Gallus lay 
awake, contemplating more calmly the possible conse- 
quences of his misfortune, when old Chresimus cautiously 
opened the door, lifted the curtain, and saluted his master, 
whom he had expected to find still asleep. ' You look ill, 
Chresimus,' said Grallus. ' Doubtless your anxiety for me 
has prevented you from sleeping ; but be calm. After all, 
what does it matter whether the house of Augustus is open 
to me or not ? I shall still continue to be what I now am ; 
and if any one treats me haughtily, I shall, be assured, 
meet him with all befitting disdain.' 

^I would agree with you, my lord,' replied Chresimus, 
' if nothing more were at stake than retirement from 
the splendour of imperial favour, into the obscurity of pri- 
vate life ; but take care, lest the present misfortune prove 
the forerunner of sadder occurrences. Will not your mode- 
ration be interpreted into defiance ? Will not 3^our foes be 
stimulated, by the success they have gained, to new acts of 
treachery, and at last induce the venal senate to utter its 
verdict against you, whether guilty or not ? Oh ! ' con- 
tinued he, more earnestly, as he perceived the effect his 
words had produced, ' hear the counsel of a faithful servant. 
Divest yourself of all the insignia of the distinction befit- 
ting your rank.'' Throw carelessly around you the worst 
and oldest toga you can find, and publicly display the 
sorrow with which the interdict has filled you.' 

• * In the same manner as in times I public or domestic calamities, the 
of distress and mourning, whether for | sufferers testified their afBiction by 



104 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VIII. 



'How!' retorted Grallus, 'humble myself, and go about 
in dirty garments, like a criminal, and beg for mercy ! ' 

' It would only be for a short time,' said the servant. 
' Apply to those who have most influence with Augustus. 
Let Virgil speak for you ; and if you succeed in effecting 
a reconciliation with the emperor, and in restoring, though 
in appearance only, the former relations between j^ou, you 
can laugh at your enemies, and in the retirement of private 
life escape from their intrigues ! ' 

The warmth with which the faithful old man uttered 
these words, seemed to make a deep impression upon his 
lord. Grallus even appeared on the point of resolving to 
follow the judicious counsel, when a cuhicidarius an- 
nounced that Pomponius had called, and desired to speak 
with him. Chresimus prepared, although very unwillingly, 
to withdraw. ' Oh I listen not to him,' I conjure you, were 
his words, as the slave disappeared to admit the visitor : 
' follow not the advice that he will give you. Would that 
Lycoris were here ! She appears to know some secret re- 
lating to him, and intended seeking an opportunity at the 
villa, of confiding it to you.' Pomponius entered. At a 
sign from his master, Chresimus slowly retired ; but it was 
easy to read in his countenance the curse that was hanging 
on his lips. 

The secret conference had lasted more than an hour, 
when Pomponius at length quitted the chamber. Chresi- 
mus, on re-entering, discovered his master walking to and 
fro, in a strong state of excitement. 'I will go abroad, 
Chresimus,' said he. ' Send Eros with my clothes. Bid 
him select the whitest and broadest toga, and the tunica of 



sedulous neglect of their personal ap- 
pearance ; so they, over whom the 
danger of a heavy accusation was im- 
pending, appeared in sorry apparel, 
with disordered hair, and divested of 
all insignia and ornaments, sordidati. 



Liv. vi. 20. The instance of Cicero 
is known, Plut. 30 : KivZw^voov olv 
Koi BiwKÖ/xevos iaOrJTa jU.€Ti^A\a|e Koi 
KWjLtTjs orarrAecoy irepCiuv iKCTeve rhu 
Srjfxou. Comp. ib. 31 ; Dio Cass, 
xxx-v-iii. 16. 



Scene Till.] DISPLEASURE OF AUGUSTUS. 



105 



the brightest purple. Not a word, old man ! Your advice 
was well meant, but the present is not the time for de- 
meaning; myself. Send Eros to me.' 

The slave came with the tunica, followed by two others 
bearing the toga, already folded in the approved fashion, 
whilst a fourth placed the purple dress-shoes near the 
seat. Eros first gii-ded the under-garment afresh, then 
threw over his master the upper tunica, taking particular 
care, as he did so, that the broad strip of purple woven into 
it^ might fall exactly across the centre of the breast ; for 
custom did not permit of this garment being girded. He 
then, with the assistance of another slave, hung one end of 
the toga, w^oven of the whitest and softest Milesian wool, 
over the left shoulder, so as to fall far below the knee, and 
cover with its folds, which gradually became more wide, 
the whole of the arm down to the hand. The right arm 
remained at liberty, as the voluminous garment was passed 
at its broadest part under the arm, and then brought for- 
ward in front ; the umbo, already arranged in an inge- 
nious fashion, being laid obliquely across the breast so that 
the well-rounded siniis almost reached the knee, and the 
lower half ended ^at the middle of the shin-bone, whilst the 
remaining portion was once more thrown over the left 
shoulder, and hung down over the arm and back of the 
person in a mass of broad and regular folds. Eros was 



^ See the Excursus on The Dress 
of the Men, for a description of the 
ciavis latus and angustus. It may be 
doubted whether Gallus possessed 
the jus lati clavi, since he was not 
entitled to it either by birth or oflSce, 
and Augustus had made him prsefect 
of Egypt because he did not belong 
to the ordosenatorius. To these alone 
did the jus lati clavi belong ; see Dio 
Cass. lix. 4, where he says of Caligula : 
Kal TKTiv avTwv {twv iTririwu) Koi 
Tp i(T6r}Ti rfj ßov\evTiKv, koI irplv 
&p|at Til/a dpxV, St' rjs is tV J^pov- 



ffiav i(Tep-)(^6fjLeOa. xp^''"^«' tl iirl rrj 
rf/s jSoi/Atjs iXiriSi iSw/ce, irpörepov 
yap fiovois, ws ioiKe ttws, ro7s e/c 
Tov ßovXevTLKOv (pvÄov '',€yevr]fX€vois 
TovTo TToielu e^rjv ; see also the in- 
scription found in Asia. Ovid had 
already before this received theright ; 
Trist, iv. 10, 28, induiturque hume- 
ros curii lato 'purpura clavo ; he again 
however either lost or resigned it 
voluntarily, because he was not of 
sufficiently high rank, ib. v. 35 : clavi 
mensura coacta est, Majus erat nos- 
tris viribus illud onus. 



I 



106 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VIII. 



occupied for a long time before he could get each fold into 
its approved position, but this being accomplished, he 
reached for his lord the polished hand-mirror, whose thick 
silver plate reflected every image with perfect clearness. 
Gallus cast but a single glance on it, allowed his feet to be 
installed into the tall shoes, latched with fourfold thongs, 
placed on his fingers the rings he had taken off overnight,^ 
and ordered Chresimus to be summoned. 

' You accompany me,' said he to Chresimus, who was 
just entering. 'I intend visiting some shops in the Forum,^ 
to purchase a few presents for Lycoris, in order to surprise 
her on her return ; give instructions, therefore, for four of 
my most imposing-looking slaves to follow me. No orders 
require to be given about my dinner, as I must keep my 
promise to Lentulus, who, with all his folly, is not one of 
those who trouble themselves as to whether Augustus be 
displeased with me or not. Here,' continued he, as he 
opened a closet,^ took out two purses, and sealed it up 
again with the key-ring, ^et the slaves take this gold 
with them ; I hope it will be enough ; if not, we must see 



® Although they kept the signet- 
ring on at night, for fear of its being 
made unfair use of, yet this was not 
the case with those which were merely 
ornamental. Hence Mart, xi, 59, 
mentions it as something particular 
inCharisianus, nee node ponit annu- 



' In the most frequented streets 
and places of Rome, taberncB were 
erected against the houses and public 
buildings ; also against the Forum. 
Juv. vii. 132. 

Perque forum juvenes longo premit assere 

Medos, 
Emturus pueros, argentum, murrhina, 

villas. 

After Agrippa had completed the 
Septa Julia, the most splendid maga- 



zines were to be found there. At least 
Martial says of them, ix. 60, 

Hie ubi Roma suas aurea vexat opes, 
From this epigram almost the whole 
of this description is taken. 

^ The area, or armarium, wherein 
money was deposited, was, as in the 
case oit\iQceU(S and other repositories, 
not only locked, but also, from this 
not being considered sufficient se- 
curity, had a seal placed upon it. 
Plaut. Epid. ii. 3, 3. 

Quin ex occluso atque obsignato armario 
Decutio argentum tantum, quantum mihi 
lubet. 

For this purpose there was mostly a 
signet attached to the key-ring, of 
which great numbers are still extant. 



Scene VIII.] DISPLEASURE OF AUGUSTUS. 107 

whether Alphius^ will give credit to the fallen favourite. 
Chresimus took the gold in silence, and departed. 

Grallus had good reasons for selecting the tabernce of 
the Forum as the direction of his morning's walk. Irri- 
tated by Pomponius, who had insinuated much about the 
displeasure of Augustus, and the ridicule of the distin- 
guished circles, he fancied he could not better evince his 
indifference to the interdict, than by appearing in all the 
splendour of his order, at the very focus of life and bustle, 
and that too, for no weightier purpose than to purchase 
ornaments and trinkets for a libertina. He soon per- 
ceived, as he stalked along the streets, what a difference 
had been brought about by a single word from the Em- 
peror. Many, who at former times pressed forward to 
meet him, passed along unconcernedly or shyly, without 
noticing him. Proud patricians, who had no other merit 
to boast of, but the glory of their ancestors, whose images 
adorned the atrium, cast scornful looks upon him, whilst 
their slaves pointed at him with their fingers. Now and 
then only would some worthy citizen or intimate friend 
approach, to express their sympathy by a hearty shake of 
the hand. 

Without apparently observing these indications of base- 
ness and paltry timidity, G-allus strode proudly through 
the streets, and careless of the crowds that beset the 
Forum, entered the shops where all the valuables that 
streamed into Eome from the most remote regions, lay 
stored up in rich profusion. These tabernce never lacked 
a number of visitors. They were frequented not only by 
such as really intended to make purchases, but also by 
those who, full of repining at not possessing all the costly 
articles, ^^ devoured them with greedy gaze, demanded to 



' Alphius -was the name of the foe- 
nerator, known from Hor. Ejyod. ii., 
■who need not, however, as is here in- 
tended, have been an argentarius. 



'" The sorrowful feelings which 
arose in the miudsof many on behold- 
ing these displays of finery, is beau- 
tifully described by Martial, x. 80. 



108 



GALLUS. 



[Scene VIII. 



see every thing, made offers for some of the goods, and 
ordered others to be put aside, as if chosen ; whilst others 
pointed out slight defects, or regretted that they did not 
quite suit their purpose, and, after all, went away, without 
purchasing anything beyond mere trifles. In the taberncG 
of the slave-merchants particularly, there were persons 
who, under the pretence of becoming purchasers, penetrated 
into the interior, where the most beautiful slaves were 
kept, in order that they might be out of sight of ordi- 
nary visitors. 

Passing these tabernce, Grallus entered one where costly 
furniture was exposed for sale : expensive cedar-tables, 
carefully covered and supported by strong pillars, veneered 
with ivory ; dinner couches of bronze, richly adorned with 
silver and gold, and inlaid w^ith costly tortoise-shell. Be- 
sides these, were trapezophorce of the most beautiful mar- 
ble, with exquisitely-worked griffins, seats of cedar-wood 
and ivory, candelabra and lamps of the most various 
forms, vases of all sorts, costly mirrors, and a hundred 
other objects, sufficient to furnish more than one house in 
magnificent style. Some one who hardly meant to be a 
purchaser, was just getting the covers removed from some 
of the cedar-tables by the attendant, but he found they 
were not spotted to his taste. A hexaclinon^^ of tortoise- 



Plorat Eros, quoties maculosae pocula 
myirhse 
Inspicit, aut pueros, nobiliusve citrnm, 
Et gemitus imo ducit de pectore, quod non 
Tota miser coemat Septa feratque do- 
mum. 
Quam multi f aciunt, quod Eros, sed lumine 
sicco ! 
Pars major lacrymasridet,et intus habet. 

" For the meaning of the word 
hexadinon, consult the Excursus on 
The Triclinia. Here again the words 
of Martial's often-quoted epigram 
(ix. 60) are the ground-work of the 
description : 



Et testudineum mensis quater hexaclinon 
Ingemuit citro non satis esse suo. 

From this epigram we become ac- 
quainted with the objects exposed for 
sale in these tabcrnce. Mamurra there 
goes about inspecting every thing, 
and finding something to blame in 
every thing, even in the statues of 
Polycletus, then selects ten Myrrhine 
vases, cheapens other things, jpre- 
timn fecit, — which custom seems to 
have been as common in Eome as 
amongst ourselves, — and at last buys 
two miserable glasses for an as. 



Scene VIII.] DISPLEASURE OF AUGUSTUS. 109 

shell seemed, however, to attract him amazingly, but, after 
measuring it three or four times, he said, with a sigh, 
* That it was, alas ! a few inches too small for the cedar- 
table for which he had intended it.' Having caused several 
other objects to be reached down from their places against 
the wall, he at last departed without buying any thing. 
G-allus, in his turn, looked over the stock, but seeing 
nothing adapted for a present to Lycoris, left the shop, 
and went into another. In this, precious metals of Corin- 
thian brass, statues b}^ Polycletus and Lysippus, costly tri- 
pods with groups of figures in bronze, and similar objects, 
were displayed. He thence proceeded to that of a mer- 
chant, who kept for sale the best selection of gorgeous 
trinkets. Beautiful vessels of gold and silver ; goblets, of 
precious stones or genuine murrha'; ingenious manufac- 
tures in glass, and many-coloured carpets from Babylon 
and Alexandria ; pearl ornaments for females, and all kinds 
of precious stones ; rings set wdth magnificent cameos, 
engraved emeralds and beryls ; and many other precious 
wares, w^ere exhibited in such profusion that it was difficult 
to choose. 

Grallus selected a pair of pearl ear-drops of great value, 
a neck ornament of the most beautiful eledrum, a pair of 
pretty glass vessels, and one of the richest carpets. He 
then despatched Chresimus to the Vicus Tuscus to pur- 
chase one of the best silk robes. ' Send the slave with my 
bathing apparatus to the house of Fortunatus,'^^ said he ; 
' also my sandals, and a synthesis ; I am now going to call 
upon a friend.' With these words he dismissed his domestic, 
who obeyed in silence, and took charge of the ornaments, 
while two of the slaves bore off the remainder of the pm-- 
chases. The others followed their lord. 



^2 Fortunatus, the owner of a balneum meriiorium, mentioned by Martial, 
ii. 14, 11. 



SCENE THE NINTH. 



THE BANQUET.! 

THE hour of the coena had arrived, and by the activity 
of his very numerous slaves everything was prepared 
in the house of Lentulus for a grand reception of guests. 



' Of all the matters, which, in 
pursuance of the plan of this work, 
should be touched upon, none appear 
of so critical a nature as the descrip- 
tion of a Roman banquet, and yet it, 
above all others, ought not to be omit- 
ted, considering the importance — 
not merely in the latest times — that 
was attached to everything connected 
with it. The analysis of the habits 
of the Romans, so entirely different 
from our own in this respect, the ex- 
planation of numerous objects, which 
were important in their daily life, and 
are so frequently mentioned in their 
most popular authors, in short, the 
antiquarian research itself, is attended 
with much interest ; but, as the dra- 
matic poet can introduce on the stage 
nothing more tedious than banquets, 
(of course su'^h scenes as that in 
Macbeth are an exception,) so the 
description of them must always be 
tiresome, and the more so, when the 
only object is to pourtray the exterior 
customs of a class of persons. On 
the other hand, it would be more 
dangerous to attempt to describe the 
genuine convivere, the actual convi- 
viality, the spirit which pervaded the 
conversation and jests of the banquet, 
instead of confining oneself to the 
material part of the matter. It might 
be more feasible in the Latin tongue, 
but in a modern language the truest 
copy of antique scenes, especially of 



common life, must alw^ays have some- 
thing modern about it, which will 
render it disagreeable to the taste of 
the literary antiquary. 

There is, besides, such an abimd- 
ance of apparatus, attendance, dishes, 
means of amusement, out of which 
only a selection can be made in 
the description of a single meal, 
and great caution is necessary not to 
under or over-do any thing, and to 
take exaggerations for habits, nor, 
on the other hand, to consider any 
thing, to us improbable, as satire or 
untruth. 

It is always safer, therefore, to 
take as our basis, in such matters, 
some antique description, even though 
it contain many eccentricities and ab- 
surdities, instead of usual matters. Of 
all such accounts, the detailed one by 
Petronius of the cava TrimalcJiionis 
is best adapted for our present pui-- 
pose, since the banquet of Nasidienus 
was ridiculed by Horace, because 
every thing there was unsuitable and 
perverted. Petronius describes an un- 
usual ccena at the house of a man, 
whose equal in prodigality and folly 
could hardly be foimd, and therefore, 
although the satirist may have ex- 
aggerated, we unquestionably learn 
best from himwhat the general habits 
were, and much that appears absurd 
and ostentatious in Trimalchio, is 
shown, by passages in other authors, 



Scene IX.] 



THE BANQUET. 



Ill 



The fires blazed brightly in the kitchens, where the cook, 
assisted by a number of underlings, was exhausting all his 
skill. WTnenever the covers were removed from the vessels, 
a grateful odour, more inviting than the smoke of a fat 
burnt-offering, diffused itself around, and ascended on high 
to the habitation of the gods.^ The pistor and structor 
were occupied in arranging the dessert, in all the forms 
that ingenuity could suggest, while the first course was 
ready for serving. 

The triclinium had been placed in a spacious saloon, 
the northerly aspect of which was well adapted for the 
time of year. Around a beautiful table, covered with cedar- 
wood, stood elegant sofas, inlaid with tortoise-shell ; the 
lower part decked with white hangings embroidered with 
gold, and the pillows, which were stuffed with the softest 
wool, covered with gorgeous purple. Upon the seats, 
cushions,^ covered with silken stuff, were laid to separate 
the places of the guests. The tricliniarch was still arrang- 
ing the side-tables, ^ on which valuable drinking- vessels 



to hare been nothing uncommon. 
Should much be here retained that 
may be thought pure invention of 
Petronius, the author may submit, 
that, at a later period, still stranger 
things occurred, and therefore that 
they might have happened in the 
house of Lentulus. It would not be 
to the purpose to enter here into a 
detailed account of the various dishes, 
as not only those mentioned by Ho- 
race, Martial, Juvenal, and Macro- 
bius,butalso those in the receipt-book 
of Apieius, must then be described. 

2 The cook whom Ballio had 
hired, speaks thus boastingly of his 
art. Plaut. Pseud, iii. 2, 51 : 

Ubi omnes patinse fervent, omnes aperio ; 
Is odor demissis pedibus in ccelum volat ; 
Eum odorem coenat Jupiter quotidie. 

^ The silken cushions, ^ulvini, 



on which they supported themselves 
on the left elbow, were, perhaps, not 
introduced so early as the time of 
Grallus, but they are mentioned by 
Mart. iii. 82, 7 : 

Jacet occupato galbanatus in lecto 
Cnbitisque trudit hinc et inde convivas 
Efiultus ostro sericisque pulvinis. 

*. The abaci and Delphici as side- 
boards, are spoken of in the Excursus 
on the Second Scene. It need only 
here be mentioned, that besides the 
necessary utensils, many things were 
displayed on them merely for show, 
the proper expression for which is 
exponere. Petr. 21 : In 'proximam 
cellam ducti sumus, in qua tres lecti 
strati er ant et reliqutis lautitiarum 
apparatus splendidissime expositus. 
lb. 22 : Cecidit etiam mensa cum ar- 
gento. Comp. Ib. 73. 



112 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IX. 



were displayed, and in straightening the draperies of the tri- 
clinium, when his lord entered, accompanied by the guests. 

Lentulus had invited only six friends, but Pomponius, — 
anxious that the number of the Muses ^ should occupy the tri- 
clinium, and no place be left empty, — brought with him two 
friends, whom he introduced as gentlemen from Perusia.^ 
' It is loDg, methinks,' said Grallus to his courteous host, on 
entering, ' since we last met in this saloon : how beautifully 
you have in the meantime ornamented it I You certainly 
could not have chosen a more appropriate picture for a 
triclinium than those satyrs, celebrating the joyous vintage : 
and the slain boar, a scene from Lucania, the fruit and pro- 
vision pieces over the doors, and between them the elegant 
twigs on which thrushes are sitting, — all are calculated to 
awaken a relish for the banquet.' 

* Yes, really,' interposed Pomponius, ' Lentulus under- 
stands far better than Calpurnius how to decorate a dining- 
hall. The other day he had the walls of his finest tricli- 
nium painted with the murder of Hipparchus, and the 
death of Brutus ; and instead of agreeable foliage, threat- 
ening lictors were to be seen at every corner.' 

^He, too^ is right in his way,' said Grallus; 'but where 
is he? I understood that you had invited him, Lentulus?' 

' He was unfortunately pre-engaged,' replied the other. 
— ' But we shall see him before the evening be over,' added 



5 Varro on Gelliusxiii. 11, writes, 
Convivarum numerum incipere op- 
portere a Gratiarum numero et pro- 
gredi ad Musarum, i. e. proficisci a 
trihus et consistere in novem. 

« We learn from Horace and Plu- 
tarch the custom by which invited 
guests frequently took uninvited per- 
sons, called 2</?i6r«, with them, Heind. 
on Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 22. This, how- 
ever, generally took place only when 
the host had left it to his guests' op- 
tion to do so, as when Hor. Ep. i. 5, 



30, writes to Torquatus : Locus est et 
pluribus wnbris ; and, tu quotus esse 
velis scrihas. Salmasius thought that 
the lowest places on the lectus imus 
were allotted to them, but this will 
not apply to all cases : the passage he 
quotes, Juv. v. 17, is not to the pur- 
pose, as an uninvited client is there 
alluded to. In Horace the two um- 
bra introduced by Maecenas lay upon 
the lectus medius, probably out of re- 
gard to him : it generally depended 
upon what sort of people the umbra 
were, and by whom introduced. 



Scene IX.] 



THE BANQUET. 



113 



Pomponius. * As our friend Fannius is, you know, averse 
to sitting late, and Lentulus will not, I am sure, let us go 
before the crowing of the cock, we shall be one short at 
the triclinium, unless Calpurnius come according to his 
promise, and fill the vacant place, so soon as he can get 
released from his formal consular supper. But I scarcely 
think we ought to keep the cook waiting any longer. The 
tenth hour is, I verily believe, almost elapsed. Had we 
not better take our seats, Lentulus ?' 

The host answered in the affirmative, and conducted" 
Grallus to the lowest place on the middle sofa, which was 
the seat of honour at the table. At his left, and on the 
same ledus, sat Pomponius ; above him, Fannius. The 
sofa to the left was occupied by Bassus, Faustinus and 
Csecilianus. To the right, and next Grallus, sat Lentulus 
himself; below him, the Perusians whom Pomponius had 
brought. 

As soon as they had reclined, slaves took off their 
sandals, and youths, with their loins girded, offered water 
in silver bowls for their ablutions. At a nod from Lentulus, 
two slaves entered, and placed upon the table the tray 
which contained the dishes composing the first course. 
Lentulus cast his eyes with secret joy around the circle, as 
if desirous of noting the impression made on his friends 
by the novel arrangements of this gustatorium, the inven- 
tion of which was due to himself; and, indeed, the service 
was worthy of a nearer observation. 

In the centre of the plateau, ornamented with tortoise- 
shell, stood an ass of bronze, ^ on either side of which hung 



'' There does not appear to have 
been any general rule ^Yiih regard to 
the distribution of the places: in 
most cases the host left it to each 
guest to choose his own, but in others 
he assigned them. Plutarch, who 
discusses the matter in a special 
chapter, {Sympos. i. 2), decides, that 
it ought to be left entirely free to 



intimate friends and yoxing people 
to choose their own, but not so with 
strangers and persons deserving par- 
ticular attention. 

^ Petron. 31 : Cceterum in pro- 
mulsidari asellus erat Corinthius cum 
bisaccio positus, qui habcbat olivas, 
in altera parte albas ^ in altera nigras. 



114 



GALLUS. 



[SCE>'E IX. 



silver panniers, filled with white and black olives, preserved 
by the art of the cook until this period of the year ; on the 
back of the beast sat a Silenus, from whose skin the most 
delicious garumi flowed upon the surrten beneath. Near 
this, on two silver gridirons lay delicately-dressed sausages, 
beneath which Syrian plums, mixed with the seed of the 
pomegranate, presented the appearance of glowing coals. 
Around stood silver dishes containing apparagus, lactuca, 
radishes, and other productions of the garden, in addition 
to lacerta, flavoured both with mint and rue, and v/ith 
Byzantine muria, and dressed snails and oysters, whilst 
fresh ones in abundance were handed round. The company 
expressed their admiration of their host's fanciful invention, 
and then proceeded to help themselves to what each, ac- 
cording to his taste, considered the best incentive of an 
appetite. At the same time slaves carried round in golden 
goblets the mulsum, composed of Hymettian honey and 
Falernian wines. 

They were still occupied in tasting the several deli- 
cacies, when a second and smaller tray was brought in, and 
placed in a vacant spot within the first, to which it did 
not yield in point of singularity. In an elegant basket 
sat a hen, ingeniously carved out of wood, with outspread 
wings, as if she were brooding.^ Straightway entered two 
slaves, who began searching in the chaff which filled the 
basket, and taking out some eggs, distributed them amongst 
the guests. ' Friends,' said Lentulus, smiling, * they are 
pea-hen's eggs, wmich have been put under the hen ; my 
only fear is that she may have sat too long upon them ; 
but let us try them.' A slave then gave to each guest a 



^ Petroniiis (33), whence this^a^- 
lina is borrowed, says, gustantibus 
adhuc nobis repositorium allatum est 
cum corbe, in quo gallina erat lignea 
jpatentihus in orbem alis, quotes esse 
solent, quce incubant ova. The first 
repositorium was not removed, and 



the gallina must either have been 
placed upon it, or there must have 
been room enough left for it on the 
table. There were, however, also 
repositoria of several tabulata, and 
one might consequently have been 
set on the top of the other. 



Scene IX.] 



THE BANQUET. 



115 



silver cochleare, which was, however, found almost too large 
and heavy for the purpose, and each proceeded to break 
an egg with the point of it. Most of the party were 
already acquainted with the jokes of Lentulus, but not so 
the Perusians. ^ Truly, my egg has already become a 
hen ! ' cried one of them in disgust, and about to throw it 
away. * Examine a little more closely,' said Pomponius, 
with a laugh, in which the guests at the upper sofa, who 
were better acquainted with the matter, joined ; 'our friend's 
cook understands well how to dress eggs that have been 
already sat upon.' The Perusian then for the first time 
remarked that its shell was not natural, but made of dough, 
and that a fat fig-pecker was hidden in the yolk, which 
was strongly seasoned with pepper. Many jokes were 
made, and whilst the guests were eating the mysterious 
eggs, the slaves again presented the honey-wine. When 
no one desired more, the band, which was at the other end 
of the hall, began to play, as a sign for the slaves to re- 
move the gustatorium,^^ which they proceeded to do. 

Another slave wiped the table with a purple colth of 
coarse linen, and two Ethiopians again handed water for 
washing the hands. ^' Boys, wearing green garlands, then 
brought in two well-gypsumed amphorce, the time-corroded 
necks of which well accorded with the inscription on a label 
hanging round them, whereon might be read, written in 
ancient characters, the words L, Opwiio Cos. ' Discharge 
your office well, Earinos,' cried Lentulus to one of the boys. 
* To-day you shall bear the cyathus. It is Falernian, my 
friends, and Opimianum, too ; and is, as you know, usually 



^" Petron. 34 : Subito Signum sym- 
phonia datur et gustatoria jparitcr a 
choro cantante rapiuntur. 

" It is not certain whether this 
took place after each ferculum, but 
Petronius describes it after the jpro- 
mtdsio. Subinde intraverunt duo 
JEthiopcs capiUatl cum jpusillis utri- 



bus, quales solent esse, qui arenam 
in amjphitheatro spargunt, vinum- 
que dcdere in manus ; aquam enim 
nemo porrexit. No further mention 
is made of the usage between the 
courses, but it may easily be imagin- 
ed that they washed frequently dur- 
ing the meal, as they used no forks. 



i2 



116 GALLüS. [Scene IX. 

clouded.' ' It was bright enough/ said G-aUus, ^ when the 
free citizen wrote the name of the consul on this label. 
Yet it only shares the fate of the age, which, like it, has 
also become clouded.' The Perusians beofan to listen atten- 
tively, and Pomponius cautiously placed his finger on his 
mouth. ' Actually,' continued he, ' only five years more, 
and this noble juice would have witnessed a century pass 
away, and during this century there has never been a 
growth like it. Why, Maximus, your great-grandfather 
was consul in the same year as Opimius ; and see, here is 
the fourth generation already, and yet the mne is still in 
existence.' 

' Quite right,' replied Maximus ; ^ my ancestor was 
consul with Opimius ; and much as I like the wine, I am 
yet vexed to think that my name does not appear on the 
ami'phoTa.' 

' Content yourself,' quoth Grallus ; 'there are more 
serious accidents in life than that.' * Oh ! ' quickly inter- 
posed Pomponius, ' let us end this grave conversation. 
Only see how Bassus and Csecilianus are longing for the 
contents of the amphorae, whilst we are indulging in 
speculations about the label outside. Have them opened, 
Lentulus.' 

The vessels were carefully cleansed of the gypsum, and 
the corks extricated. Earinos cautiously poured the wine 
into the silver colum, which was placed ready, and was 
now filled again with fresh snow, and then mixed it, ac- 
cording to his master's directions, in the richly-embossed 
crater^ and dipping a golden cyathus therein, filled the 
amethyst-coloured glasses, which were distributed amongst 
the guests by the rest of the boys. 

This operation was scarcely finished, before a new repo- 
sitorium was placed upon the table, containing the first 
course of the coßna, which, however, by no means answered 
the expectations of the guests. A circle of small dishes, 
covered with such meats as were to be met with only at 
the tables of plebeians, was ranged around a slip of natural 



Scene IX.] THE BANQUET. 117 

turf^ on which lay a honey-comb. A slave carried round 
the bread in a silver basket, and the guests were preparing, 
although with evident vexation, to help themselves to 
chick-peas and small fish, when at a sign from Lentulus, 
two slaves hurried forward, and took off the upper part of 
the tray, under which a number of dishes, presenting a rich 
selection of dainties, were concealed. There were ring- 
doves and field-fares, capons and ducks, mullets of three 
pounds weight, and turbot, and, in the centre, a fatted 
hare, which, by means of artificial wings, the strudor had 
ingeniously changed into a Pegasus. The company on the 
ledus summus were agreeably surprised, and applauded 
the host with clapping of hands, and the scissor immedi- 
ately approached, and, with great solemnity and almost in 
musical time, began to carve. Earinos, meanwhile, was 
diligently discharging his functions ; and the guests, ani- 
mated by the strength of the Falernian, already began to 
be more merry. On the disappearance of the first course, 
much conversation was kept up, Grallus alone taking less 
share in it than he was accustomed to do. 

But no long interval was allowed for talking. Four 
slaves soon entered to the sound of horns, bearing the 
second course, which consisted of a huge boar, sur- 
rounded by eight sucking-pigs, made of sweet paste, by 
the experienced baker, and surprisingly like real ones. 
On the tusks of the boar hung little baskets, woven of 
palm twigs, and containing Syriern and Theban dates. 
Another scissor, resembling a jager in full costume, now 
approached the table, and with an immense knife com- 
menced cutting up the boar, pronounced by Lentulus to 
be a genuine Umbrian. In the meantime the boys 
handed the dates, and gave to each guest one of the pigs 
as apophoreta. 

' An Umbrian,' said one of the guests of the lectus sum- 
mus, turning to the strangers, ^a coimtryman, or, at all 
events, a near neighbour, of yours then. If I were in 
your place, I should hesitate before partaking of it ; for 



118 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IX. 



who knows whether, by some metamorphosis, one of your 
dear friends may not have been changed into this animal.' 

^The days for metamorphoses are past,' replied one of 
them. * There are no more Circes, and the other gods do 
not trouble themselves much about mankind. I know only 
one, who potently rules all the world, and can doubtless 
bring about many metamorphoses.' 

^ Do not say so,' Pomponius quickly added ; * our friend 
Bassus will teach you directly that many wonders happen 
even in the present times, and that we are by no means 
sure that we shall not see one amongst us suddenly assume 
the character of a beast.' 

^ Laugh as you will,' said Bassus, ' it still cannot be 
denied. Only the other day, one who was formerly a slave 
to a man in humble circumstances at Capua, but has now 
become a rich freedman, related to me a circumstance 
which he had himself experienced ; it is enough to make 
one's hair stand on end. If not displeasing to you I will 
communicate it.'^^ The company, partly from curiosity, 
and partly wishing for a laugh against Bassus, begged him 
to tell the story, and he thus began : — 

'"When I was a slave," related my informant, "I hap- 
pened, by the dispensation of the gods, to conceive a liking 
for an innkeeper's wife ; not from an unworthy passion, 
but because she never denied me what I asked for, and 



'^ The thousand-fold superstitions 
that reigned over the minds of the 
ancients, are shewn by the belief in 
omens, soothsayers, ghosts, and the 
effects of sympathetic means, diffused 
amongst all classes, so that Horace, 
Epist. ii. 2, 208, in naming the follies 
from which a man must become 
emancipated, asks — 

Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, 
Nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala 
rides ? 

There appear to have been fewer 
fabulous histories, such as our fairy 



tales, because they were generally in- 
cluded in the mythology, and thus 
rose to a higher significance. The 
tales here taken from Petronius, are 
interesting proofs that the ancients 
were in the habit of telling anecdotes, 
which may well compete with our 
renowned fairy tales. Many such 
wondrous occuiTences might be qiiot- 
ed from Appuleius, but in Petronius 
they appear as objects of supersti- 
tion, although only amongst the lower 
classes, but this is not the case with 
the Milesian tales. 



Scene IX.] THE BANQUET. 119 

anything I saved and gave into her charge, I was sure not 
to be cheated of. Her husband had a small villa at the fifth 
milestone, and, as it chanced, fell sick there and died. 
In misfortune, thought I, we know our friends, and there- 
fore considered how I could get to my friend at the villa. 
My master was by accident absent from Capua, but a 
stranger, a warrior, was stopping in our house ; of him I 
made a confidant, begging that he would accompany me 
in the night to the villa, and he consented to do so. We 
waited for the time of the cock-crowing, and then stole off; 
the moon was shining, and it was as clear as midday. 
About half way, by the side of the road, was a group of 
sepulchral monuments, at which my companion stopped on 
some pretence or other ; but I went on, beginning a song 
and gazing at the stars. At length I looked round, and 
saw my companion standing in the road. He took off his 
clothes and laid them down ; then went round them in a 
circle, spat three times upon them, and immediately became 
a wolf." * Now do not suppose that I am telling you a 
falsehood; for the fellow assured me that it was pure 
truth.' *' He next," continued the man, " began to howl, 
and then dashed into the thicket. At first I did not know 
what to do, but at length approached for the purpose of 
taking the clothes with me, but behold ! they had become 
stone. Horror-stricken, I drew my sword, and continued 
slashing it about in the air until I reached the villa. I 
entered the house breathless, the sweat dropped from me, 
and it was long before T recovered myself. My friend wavS 
astonished at my visiting her at such an unusual hour. 
^ Had you only come sooner,' said she, ' you might have 
assisted us; for a wolf has been breaking into the villa 
and destroying several sheep ; but he did not escape with 
impunity ; for my slave has pierced him through with a 
spear.' I shuddered, and could not obtain any sleep during 
the night. As soon as it was day I hastened homewards, 
and saw, on reaching the place where the clothes had lain, 
nothing more than a large stain of blood ; but found the 



120 



GALLUS. 



[Scene IX. 



warrior lying in bed at home, and a surgeon bandaging bis 
neck. I then became aware that he was one of those whom 
we call versipelles ,^^ and could never afterwards eat bread 
in his company." This was the man's story, in recounting 
which he even then shuddered. Say what you will, such 
things often happen.' 

The company laughed and jeered at the narrator, who 
endeavoured by philosophical arguments to defend his cre- 
dulity. At length the second Perusian, who sat in the 
lowest place, said, ' Bassus may not be so very wrong, after 
all ; for some time since I bought a slave who had formerly 
lived at Miletus, and who told me a wonderful story, in the 
following words. " In the house where I served, a child, 
a boy — beautiful as a statue — had died. His mother was 
inconsolable, and all were standing mourning round the 
bed, when the strigce were heard shrieking round the 
house. There was in the family a Cappadocian, a tall, 
daring fellow, who had once overcome a mad ox. This 
man having seized a sword, ran out of doors, with his left 
hand cautiously concealed in his mantle, and cut one of 
the hags in two. We heard their shrieks, although we saw 
nothing ; but the Cappadocian staggered backwards upon a 
couch, and his whole body became as blue as if he had been 
beaten: for he had been touched by the haiids of the 
witches. He closed the house-door again, but when the 
mother returned to her dead child, she saw with horror 
that the strigse had already taken away the body, and left 
a straw doll in its place." ' 

This anecdote was received with no less laughter than 



^^ The name versipellis was con- 
sidered as a term of abuse, and is so 
used by Petron . 62. Pliny also styles 
it tbe peculiar designation of such 
persons, viii. 22. Homines in lupos 
verti rursumque restitui sibi, falsicm 
esse confidenter existimare debemus, 
aut credere omnia, qucs fabulosa tot 
■ seculis comperimus. Unde tarnen ista 



vidgo infixa sit fama in tantum, ut 
in maledictis versipellcs habeat, in- 
dicabitur. There was, according to 
Euanthes, an Arcadian legend, that 
each member of a certain family was 
changed into a wolf for nine years, 
and after that period again resumed 
his natural shape. 



Scene IX.] 



THE BANQUET. 



121 



the other. Bassus alone bent unobserved towards the table, 
and inwardly besought the strigse not to meet him on his 
way home J ^ 

Some more stories of a similar kind would perhaps 
have been introduced, had not the slaves produced a 
fresh ferculum, which, to the astonishment of the com- 
pany, contained a vast swine, cooked exactly like the boar. 
' Ha ! ' cried Lentulus, rising from his couch, in order to 
inspect it more closely, ^ I really believe that the cook has 
forgotten to disembowel the animal. Bring him hither 
directly.' The cook appeared with troubled mien, and 
confessed, to the indignation of the whole party, that in 
his hurry he had forgotten to cleanse the beast. ' Now, 
really,' said the enraged Csecilianus, ' that is the most 
worthless slave I ever beheld. Who ever heard of a cook 
omitting to gut a swine ? Were he mine, I would hang 
him.' Lentulus, however, was more leniently disposed. 
' You deserve a severe chastisement,' said he to the slave, 
' and may thank my good humour for escaping it. But, 
as a punishment, you must immediately perform the neg- 
lected duty in our presence.' The cook seized the knife, 
and having carefully slit open the belly on both sides, gave 
a sudden jerk, when, to the agreeable surprise of the guests, 
a quantity of little sausages of all kinds tumbled out.^^ 



'* Petron. 64. Miramur nos et 
'pariter credimus, osculatiqtce mensam 
rogamus nocturnas, ut suis se teneant, 
dum redimus a ccuna. The table here 
supplied the place of the altar, as in 
Ovid. Amor, i. 4, 27 : 

Tange manu mensam, quo tanguntmore 
precantes. 

A similar superstitious usage was 
that of touching the ground with the 
hand at mention of the inferi. Plaut. 
Most. ii. 2, 37. 

'^ The whole of this joke is to be 
found in Petron. 49, who, however. 



relates a far more extraordinary piece 
of legerdemain, performed by the 
cooks on the boar, c. 40. Strictoque 
venatorio cultro latus apri vehementer 
percicssit, ex cujus plaga turdi evola- 
verunt. Such absurdities might be 
taken as inventions of the author, had 
we not sober witnesses who relate the 
same things at a much earlier period. 
Macrob. Sat. ii. 9. Cincius in sua- 
sione legis Fannies ohjecit sceculo suo, 
quod pdrcum Trojanum mensis infe- 
rant, quern Uli ideo sic vocahant, 
quasi aliis inclusis animalibus gravi- 
dura, ut ille Trojanus equus gravidus 



122 



GALL us. 



[Scene IX. 



'That is indeed a new joke,' cried Pomponius, laughing; 
* but tell me, why did you have a tame swine served up 
after the wild boar ? ' 

' If the remainder of my friends be of that opinion,' 
replied the host, 'we will grant him his liberty, and he 
may appear to-morrow at my table with his cap on.' ^^ 

On a given signal the slaves removed the dish, and 
brought another containing peacocks, pheasants, the livers 
of geese, and rare fish. At length this course also was 
removed, the slaves wiped the table, and cleared away 
with besoms of palm-twigs ^^ the fragments that had fallen 
on the floor, strewing it at the same time with saw-dust, 
dyed with minium and pleasant-smelling saffron.^^ 

Whilst this was being done, the eyes of the guests 
were suddenly attracted upwards by a noise over-head; 
the ceiling opened, and a large silver hoop, on which were 
ointment-bottles of silver and alabaster, silver garlands 
with beautifully-chiselled leaves and circlets, and other 
trifles, to be shared amongst the guests as apophoreta, *^ 
descended upon the table. In the meantime, the dessert 
had been served, wherein the new baker, whom Lentulus 
had purchased for a hundred thousand sesterces, gave a 



armatisfuit. So also geese were filled 
with smaller birds. 

'^ At Trimalcliio's table, the boar 
csbuxe pileatus, as a freedman, because 
it had appeared ou the table on the 
preceding day, but had not been cut, 
a convivis dimissus. 

'^ Luxury extended even to the 
besoms, which were made of palm- 
twigs. Mart. xiv. 82 : 

In pretio scopas testatur palma fuisse. 
Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 83 : 

Lapides varios lutulenta rädere palma. 

•« Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 81 : 
Vilibus in scopis, in mappis, in scobe 

quantus 
Consistit sumptus? neglectis, flagitium 

ingens. 



It was customary to strew the floor 
with dyed or sweet-smelling saw- 
dust, or something similar. Petron. 
68. Scobem croco et oninio tinctam 
sparserunt (not to be swept away 
again) et, quod nunquam antea vide- 
ram, ex lapide speculari ptdverem 
tritum. The absurd Elagabalus car- 
ried his prodigality still further. 
Lamprid. 31. Scobe auri porticum 
stravit et argenti, dolens, quod non 
posset et electri; idque frequenter 
quacunque fecit iter pedibus usque 
ad equum vel carpentum, ut fit hodie 
de aurosa arena. 

'^ So Petronius relates, 60, 



Scene IX.] 



THE BANQUET, 



123 



specimen of his skill. In addition to innumerable articles 
of pastry, there were artificial muscles, field-fares filled 
with dried grapes and almonds, and many other things of 
the same kind. In the middle stood a well-modelled Ver- 
tumnus, who held in his apron a great variety of fruits. 
Around lay sweet quinces, stuck full of almonds, and having 
the appearance of sea-urchins, with melons cut into various 
shapes. Whilst the party was praising the fancy of the 
baker, a slave handed round tooth-picks, ^^ made of the 
leaves of the mastich-pistachio, and Lentulus invited the 
guests to assist themselves to the confectionary and fruits 
with which the god was loaded. 

The Perusians, who were particularly astonished by the 
gifts of Vertumnus at such a season, stretched across the 
table, ^^ and seized the inviting apples and grapes, but drew 
back in affright when, as they touched them, a stream 
of saffron discharged from the fruit, besprinkled them.^^ 
The merriment became general, when several of the guests 
attempted cautiously to help themselves to the m3^sterious 
fruit, and each time a red stream shot forth. 

' You seem determined,' exclaimed Pomponius, ' to sur- 
prise us in every way ; but yet I must say, Lentulus, that 
in this, otherwise excellent, entertainment, you have not 
sufficiently provided for our amusement. Here we are at 
dessert, without having had a single spectacle to delight 
our eyes between the courses.' ' It is not my fault,' replied 
Lentulus; -for our friend Grallus has deprecated all the 
feats of rope-dancing and pantomime that I intended for 



2« The stems of the leaves of the 
mastich-pistachio, lentlscus (Pis- 
tacia lentlscus ; Lin.), made the best 
tooth -picks, denti-scalpia, for which 
quills were also used. Mart. xiv. 
22, Dentiscalpium. 

Lentiscum melius ; sed si tibi frondea 
cuspis 
Defuerit, dentes penna lerare potest. 

Martial frequently mentions them, 



as iii. 82, 9, vi. 74, vii. 53. 

2> Plaut. Mil. in. i. 167. 

<. 
Sed procellunt et procumbunt dimidiati, 
dum appetunt. 

22 Petron. 60. Oinnes enim pla- 
centm omniaque poma etiam minima 
vexatione contacta cosperant effun- 
dere crocum ut usque ad nos molestus 
humor accedcre. 



I 



124 GALLUS. '[Scene IX. 

you, and you see how little he yhares in the conversation. 
Besides, the sun is already nigh setting, and I have had 
another triclinium lighted up for us. ^^ If no one will 
take more of the dessert, we may as well, I think, repair 
thither at once. Perhaps the cloud which shades the 
countenance of our friend may disappear under the gar- 
land. Leave the Falernian alone at present, Earinos, and 
await us in the other saloon.' The youth did as his lord 
commanded, and just at that moment Calpurnius entered, 
pouting discontentedly at the servile souls of the company 
he had left, because he could no longer endure their 
' Hail to the father of our fatherland ! ' 

The party now rose, to meet again after a short time in 
the brilliant saloon, the intervening moments being spent 
by some in sauntering along the colonnades, and by others 
in taking a bath. 



Petron. 73 : Ebrietate disacssa in allied triclinium deducti sumiis. 



SCENE THE TENTH. 



THE DKINKERS. 



THE lamps had been long shining on the marble panels 
of the walls in the triclinium, where Earinos, with 
his assistants, was making preparations, under the direc- 
tion of the tricliniarch, for the nocturnal comisscctio^ 
Upon the polished table between the tapestried couches 
stood an elegant bronze candelabrum, in the form of a stem 
of a tree, from the winterly and almost leafless branches 
of which four two-flamed lamps, emulating each other in 
beauty of shape, were suspended. Other lamps hung by 
chains from the ceiling, which was richly gilt and inge- 
niously inlaid with ivory, in order to expel the darkness of 
night from all parts of the saloon. A number of costly 
goblets and larger vessels were arranged on two silver 
sideboards. On one of these a slave was just placing 
another vessel filled with snow, together with its colum, 
whilst on the other was the steaming caldariuin, contain- 
ing water kept constantly boiling by the coals in its inner 
cylinder, in case any of the guests should prefer the 



^ Tlie comissatio was a convivium 
also, and the G-reek arvfiiroffiov an- 
swers better to it, but it must not be 
confounded Avith tbe coena. The name 
(derived from KU/jLosy Kcafiä^eiv) de- 
notes a carousal, such as frequently 
occurred after the repast. In Livy, 
xl. 7, Demetrius inqiiires of his guests 
after a ccena at his own hoiise : Quin 
comissatum ad fratrcm imusl And 
hence it is said of Habinnas, who 
after the ccena at another house went 
to Trimalchio's. Petron. 65; comis- 
sator intravit. Suet. Bom. 21 : Con- 
vivabatiir frequenter ac large, sed 
jpmne raptim; eerie non v.Ura solis 



occasum, nee ut postea eomissaretur. 
These eomissationes began late, and 
were frequently kept up till far into 
the night, and attended with much 
noise and riot. Martial alludes to 
this, when addressing his book, x. 
19, 18, 
Seras tutior ibis ad lucernas. 
Hsec hora est tua, cum fiirit Lyaeus, 
Cum reguat rosa, cum madent capilli : 
Tunc me vel rigidi legant Catones. 
and iii. 68, 

deposito post viua rosasque pndore, 

Quid dicat, nescit saucia Terpsichore. 
They were not in good odour, and the 
name was connected with the idea of 
all sorts of debauchery. 



126 



GALLUS. 



[Scene X. 



calda, the drink of winter, to the snow-drink, for which 
he might think the season was not sufficiently advanced. 

By degrees the guests assembled from the bath and 
the peristylum, and took their places in the same order 
as before on the triclinium. Grallus and Calpurnius were 
still wanting. They had been seen walking to and fro 
along the cryptoporticus in earnest discourse. At length 
they arrived, and the gloom seemed dissipated from the 
brow of Gallus ; his eyes sparkled more brightly, and his 
whole being seemed to have become more animated. 

' I hope, my friends, you have not waited for us,' 
said he to Pomponius and Csecilianus, who reproached him 
for his long absence. 'How could we do otherwise,' 
responded Pomponius, ' as it is necessary first to choose 
the king^ who shall reign supreme over the mixing bowl 
and cyathus ? Quick, Lentulus, let us have the dice di- 
rectly, or the snow will be turned to calda before we are 
able to drink it.' On a signal from Lentulus, a slave placed 
upon the table the dice-board, of Terebinthus-wood, the 
four dice made from the knuckles of gazelles,^ and the 
ivory turret-shaped dice-box. ' But first bring chaplets 
and the nardum^^ cried the host ; ' roses or ivy, I leave 
the choice to each of you.' Slaves immediately brought 
chaplets, both of dark -green ivy and of blooming roses. 
' Honour to the spring,' said Grallus, at the same time en- 
circling his temples with a fragrant wreath ; ' ivy belongs 
to winter ; it is the gloomy ornament with which nature 



^ The custom, common to both 
Greeks and Romans, of choosing a 
symposiarchjWft^isiJer, or rex convivii, 
arbiter bibendi, who prescribed the 
laws of the drinking, is well known. 
He fixed not only the proportions of 
the mixing, but also the number of 
cyathi each person was to drink. 
Hence the leges insane, Hor. Sat. ii. 
6, 69. Cic. Verr. v. 11, Iste enim 
jprcBtor sevenths ac diligcns, quipojpuli 



Romani legibus nunquam paruisset, 
Ulis diligenter legibus, quw in poculis 
ponebantur, obtemperabat. He was 
generally elected by the throw of the 
dice, tali, and of course the Venus 
decided it. Hor. Od. ii. 7, 25. Quern 
Venus arbitrum dicet bibendi'! 

^ We find a tabula terebinthina 
mentioned in Petron.33; acrpayähoi 
AißvKTJs SopKhs in Ijucisin, Amor. 884. 



Scene X.] 



THE DRINKEES. 



127 



decks her own bier.' ' Not so/ said Calpurnius, * the 
more sombre garland becomes men. I leave roses to the 
women, who know nothing but pleasure and trifling.' 

' No reflection on the women,' cried Faustinus, from 
the lectus summus ; ' for they, after all, give the spice to 
life, and I should not be at all grieved if some gracious 
fair one were now at my side. Listen, Gallus ; you know 
that I sometimes attempt a little poetry ; what think you 
of an epigram I have lately made ? ' 

Let woman come and share onr festal joy, 
For Bacchus loves to sit vrith Venus' boy ! 
But fair her form, and witty he her tongue, 
Such as the nymph's, whom Philolaches sung*. 
Just sip her wine, with jocund glee o'erflow, 
To-morrow hold her tongue — if she know how.'* 

' Very good,' said Grallus ; ' but the last doctrine will 
apply as well to men ; I will continue your epigram ; — 

And you, men ! who larger goblets drain, 
Nor draining blush, — this golden rule maintain. 
While foams the cup, drink, rattle, joke away, 
All unrestrained your boisterous mirth display. 
But with the wreath be memory laid aside, 
And let the morn night's dangerous secrets hide.'^ 

' Exactly so,' cried Pomponius, whilst a loud ao(f)Cüs 
resounded from the lips of the others : ' let the word of 
which the nocturnal triens was witness, be banished from 
our memory, as if it had never been spoken. But now to 
business. Bassus, you throw first, and he who first throws 
the Venus is king for the night.' 

Bassus collected the dice in the box, and shook it. 



* Non veto, ne sedeat mecum conviTa 
puella : 
Cum Veneris puero vivere Bacchus amat. 
Sed tain en ut possit lepida esse venustaque 
tota, 
Philolachis quondam qualis arnica f uit. 
Parciusilla bibat ; multum lascivajocetur ; 
Cras taceat, mulier si qua tacere potest. 



= Te quoque, majores cui non haurire 

trientes 

Sit rubor, hac cautum vivere lege velim. 

Dum spumant calices, pota, strepe, lüde, 

jocare, 

Vinctaque sit nullis Musa proterva modis. 

Sed pudeat, posita noctis meminisse corona ; 

Non sibi stepe mero saucia lingua cavet 



128 



GALLUS. 



[Scene X. 



' Cytheris for me,'^ cried he, as he threw; it was an in- 
different cast. ' Who would think of making so free with 
the name of his beloved !' said Faustinus, as he prepared 
for his chance. ' To the beautiful one of whom I am 
thinking ; take care, it will be the Venus.' He threw ; 
loud laughter succeeded; it was the dog. The dice passed 
in this manner from hand to hand till they came to Pom- 
ponius. ' Ah !' exclaimed Lentulus, as Pomponius seized 
the box, 'now I am anxious to know which, out of the num- 
ber of his loves, he will invoke, — Chione or Gralla, Lyde or 
Nesera ?' ' Neither of them,' answered Pomponius. ^Ah ! 
one, three, four, six ; here's the Venus ! but as all have 
not yet thrown, another may be equally fortunate.' He 
handed the dice to Gallus, who, however, as well as the 
Perusians, having declined the dignity, Pomponius was 
hailed as lord over the crater and cyathus. 

' Do not let us have too much water in the mixture,' 
said Ca3cilianus ; ' for Lentulus, you know, would not be 
sulky even should we drink the wine neat.' ' No, no,' 
replied Pomponius ; ' we have had a long pause, and may 
now well indulge a little. Three parts of water and two 
of wine is a fair proportion,^ that shall be the mixture 



^ Plautus freqi.ieutly mentions 
that the person about to throw the 
dice invoked the name of his mistress 
or some deity. 
Copt. i. 1, 5. 
Amator, talos cum jacit, scortum invocat. 
Asin. V. 2, 54. 

Arg. Jace, pater, talos, ut porro nos 
jaciamus. Dem. Admodum. 
Te PMlenium, mihi atque uxori mortem : 
lioc Venereum est. 
Ctirc. ii. 3, 77. 

Cur. Provocat me in aleam ; ut ego 
ludam, pono pallium, 
Hie suum annulum opposuit : invocat Pla- 
nesium. 
Ph. Meosne amores? Cur. Tace pa- 
rumper : jacit vulturios quatuor. 
Talos arripio : invoco almam meam nutri- 
cem Herculem. 



From these passages, however, we 
cannot conclude that they called upon 
the gods ; but this is clearly proved 
by a second passage from the Asi- 
naria, iv. 1, 35, where it said, under 
the conditions of a contract, which 
Diabolus makes with his arnica, 
Cum jaciat, Te ne dicat ; nomen nominet. 
Deam invocet sibi, quam lubebit, pro- 

pitiam ; 
Deum nullum. 

Nevertheless these passages from co- 
medies origmally Greek, give no sure 
proof that it was a Roman custom ; 
but probably when Grceco more hibere 
had got into fashion, this habit also 
was adopted. 

■^ The proportions of the wine 
and water, differed according to the 



Scene X.] 



THE DRINKERS. 



129 



to-night. Do you, Earinos, measure out five cyatid for 
each of us.' 

The goblets were filled and emptied amidst jokes and 
merriment, which gradually grew louder, for Pomponius 
took care that the cyathi should not have much repose. 
' I propose,' said he at length, when, from the increased 
animation of the conversation, the power of the Falernian 
became evident, 'that we try the dice a little. Let us 



frugality of the drinkers. The G-reek 
rule, 

7) TTeVre nlveiv, tj TpC, t} jixtj Tecraapa, 

(which also occurs in Plaut. Stich, v. 
4, 25), was unintelligible even to the 
later writers. Plautus, as well as 
others, seems to have understood it 
of the number of cyathi which were 
drunk, as the context explains : 

Sa. Vide, quot cyathos bibimus? St. Tot, 
quot digiti sunt tibi in manum. 

Sa. Cantio est Grgeca : t) nevre ttIv, 17 rpta 
TTtj'', ij jiArj TSTTapa. : 

but most of the later authors refer it 
to the proportions of the mixing, al- 
though they diflfer in their explana- 
tions. Plut. Sympos. iii, 9. ireVre 
— rpiuv vSaros Kepauvv/x^ucav irphs 
Svo oXvov. Tpia — irpocriJLiyuvixepcov 
Svo7p' T^ffcrapa 8e els eVa Tpiwv 
iiSaTOS iirix^oixeuüii'. Athen, x. p. 
426, on the contrary : ^ yap Bvo irphs 
TreVre iviu^iv (prjcrl Se7v, ^ eVa ivphs 
rpus, which explanation is given 
afterwards by Eustath. on Odyss. ix. 
209, although he cites the other pro- 
portions of mixing also. Several other 
proportions are mentioned in Hesiod, 
Op. 596 : 

Tpl? 6' {iSaro? Trpoxeeiv, to 5e rerpaTov 
liixev olfov. 

So also Ion in Athenseus, of Bacchus, 
or wine : 

Xai'ptt Kipvaixivos rpicri Nv/x<^ais Terparo? 
avTO?, 

which is supposed to be just the pro- 



portion denoted by reaaapa : but the 
half-and-half mixture, 'lctov icw, fre- 
quently commemorated by Athense- 
us, may be equally well imderstood. 
Another proportion, TreVre /cat Svo, is 
thus explained by him : 5vo olvov 
irphs Trei/re v^aros ; but in the Ana- 
creontic cited by him, we have : ra 
(xkv 5ü' e7xeas v^aros, ra irevre 5' 
o^vov, where others read, ra fxhv Se«* 
e7xer. The custom of drinking the 
wine and water mixed in equal pro- 
portions, 'iffov tacp, and still more, of 
the wine unmixed, was reprehended. 
Far less is known of the strength 
usual among the Koraans. The pas- 
sage in Hor. Od. iii. 19, 11, will not 
resolve the matter, tribus out novem 
miscentur cyathis pocula commodis, 
&c. It is only certain that a homo 
frugi drank the wine diluted, that 
meracius bibere was considered not 
praiseworthy, and nierum bibere, as 
the mark of a drunkard. The guests 
doubtless mixed their wine according 
to their tastes ; and whilst one called 
for meracius, another drank almost 
water, as in the example given by 
Martial, i. 107: 

Interponis aquam subinde, Rufe, 
Et si cogeris a sodale, raram 
Düuti bibis unciam Falemi. 

This passage is remarkable for the 
expression cogere, used like press, 
or invite, by us, and for the Roman 
name uncia for cyatku-s. 



130 



GALLUS. 



[Scene X. 



play for low stakes, merely for amusement ; let each of us 
stake five denarii, and put in another for every ace or six 
that may be thrown. Whoever throws the Venus first, 
gains the whole sum staked.' The proposal was acceded 
to, and the play began. ' How shall it be, Bassus ? ' said 
Pomponius, 'a hundred denarii that I make the lucky 
throw before you.' ^ 'Agreed,' replied the other. ' I will 
also bet the same with you,' said Grallus : ' a hundred 
denarii on each side.' ' And I bet you the same sum,' 
said Lentulus to Gallus ; * and if either of us should throw 
the dog, he must pay double.' 

The dice went round the table, and first Csecilianus, 
and then one of the Perusians, won the pool. The bets 
remained still undecided. When Pomponius had again 
thrown, he cried, 'Won! look here, each dice exhibits a 
different number.' Grallus took the box and threw. Four 
unlucky aces were the result. The Perusians laughed 
loudly ; for which Gallus darted a fierce glance at them. 
The money was paid. ' Shall we bet again ? ' inquired Len- 
tulus. ' Of course,' replied Gallus ; ' two thousand sesterces, 
and let him who throws sixes also lose.' Lentulus threw ; 
again the Venus appeared, and loud laughter arose from 
the lectus imus. By degrees the game became warmer, 
the bet higher, and Gallus more desperate. In the mean- 
time Pomponius had, unnoticed, altered the proportions of 
the mixture. ' I am now in favour of a short pause,' said he, 
* that we may not entirely forget the cups. Bring larger 
goblets, Earinos, that we may drink according to the cus- 
tom of the Greeks.' ^ Larger crystal glasses were placed 



* It has been already mentioned 
that betting was not uncommon ; 
indeed, this is evident from the in- 
terdicts issued against it ; and the 
enormous sums often lost on one 
game, render it probable that there 
was betting at the same time. 

^ The chief passage respecting 



the drinking after the manner of the 
Greeks, Graco more bibere, is Cic. 
Verr. i. 26 : Discunibitur : fit sermo 
inter eos et invitatio, ut Grmco more 
bibcretur ; hortatur hospes ; poscunt 
majoribus poculis. On which, Pius 
Asconius, Est autem Grcecus mos, ut 
Grmci dicunt, avjXTCulv KvaOi^o/xevous, 
cum merum cyathis libant salutantes 



ScEWE X.] THE DRINKERS. 131 

before him. ' Pour out for me six cyathi,'^^ cried he. * This 



primo aeos, aemae amicos suos nomi- 
nantes ; nam toties merum bihunt, 
quoties et deos et caros suos nomina- 
tim vocant. Cicero also says, Tusc. 
i. 40 : GrcBci enim in conviviis solent 
nominare, cuipoculum traditurisunt, 
■which agrees with Athenseus x., ttAtj- 
povvns yap irpoiirivov aWijKois fxf- 
T« irpoaayopevffecos. The custom 
was, that a person pledged the cup to 
another, thereby challenging him to 
empty it, at the same time uttering 
the name of him to whom the cup was 
given. It seems to have been pretty 
general, but Sparta formed an excep- 
tion to the rule. Athen, x. : irpoird- 
(Teis Se ras yivofi^vas iv to7s avfj.- 
troaiois AaKedaiixopiois ovk ^v eOos 
iroicTv, ovre (pLKoTrjaias hia tovtwv 
•nphs aW7}Kovs iroiucrQai. 5r)Xo7 de 
ravra Kpirias eV toTs iXeyeioLS, 

Kal t68' eöos 'ZwdpTrj ßeXeTrjfjia. re KCL/xe- 

v6v e<XTi, 
TTLveiv rrjv avrriv olv6<j>opov KvXiKn.' 
/ATjS' aTToSüjpelaOcii irponoaeis oi'OjixacrTi Ae- 

■yofTP.. 

The following verses mark the cus- 
tom: 

Kal TTpOTrdtret? opeyeiv eiri5e^ia kol irpoKa- 
XeldOaL 
i^ovofJLaKXyjSriu, (S TrpoTTieii' eöe'Aei. 

The poet describes the usage as dan- 
gerous and immoral, as it naturally 
led to immoderate indulgence ; for, 
not satisfi ed with bei ng forced to drink 
freely on account of the mutual chal- 
lenges, they mixed very little water, 
and exchanged the smaller for larger 
pocula, as we learn from Cicero. 
Comp. Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 35. Curculio 
also says (Plaut, ii. 3, 81), projoino 
magnum poculum ; propinare, and 
more rarely prcshibcre, were the Ro- 
man expressions for irporrlveiv ; per- 
haps also invitare, although all the 



passages where it occurs may be 
otherwise explained. Plaut. Bud. ii. 
3, 32: 

Neptunus magnis poculis liac nocte enin 
invitavit. 

'" The drinking of the names had 
nothing to do with the proportions of 
the mixture, nor did it properly be- 
long to the GrcBcus mos, although it 
may have thence originated. This 
bihere nomen, literas, ad numerum-, 
has often been erroneously referred 
to the number of cups, of which it 
was thought as many were drunk as 
the name had letters. We must 
rather suppose the number of the 
cyathi, determined by the letters of 
the name, and drunk out of one cup. 
Still many questions may be raised 
on the passages of Martial from 
which we derive almost our only in- 
formation on this subject : the 
plainest of which is, i. 72 : 

Naevia sex cyathis, septem Justina bibatnr, 
QuinqueLycas, Lyde quatuor, Ida tribns. 

Omnis ab infuso numeretur arnica Palemo, 
Et quia nulla venit, tu mihi, somne,veni. 

The question arises, whether, if the 
name were changed in the vocative, 
the number of cyathi would depend 
on the number of letters it then had, 
or on the entire number of the casus 
rectus. Martial speaks in favour of 
the latter, xi. 36 : 

Qmncunces et sex cyatlios bessemque biba- 
mus, 
Caius ut fiat, Julius et Proculus ; 

with which agrees ix. 94. On the 
contrary, in viii. 51, it is said : 

Det numerum cyathis Instantis litera Rnfi ; 

Auctor euim tanti muneris ille mihi. 
Si Telethusa venit, promissaque gaudia por- 
tat, 

Servabor dominas. Rufe, triente tuo. 
2 



132 



GALLUS. 



[Scene X.: 



cup I drink to you, Gallus. Hail to you I' ** Gallus replied 
to the greeting, and then desired the cyathus to be emptied 
seven times into his goblet. ' Let us not forget the absent,' 
said he. ' Lycoris, this goblet I dedicate to you.' ' Well 
done,' said Bassus, as his cup was being filled. 'Now my 
turn has come. Eight letters form the name of my love. 
Cytheris ! ' said he, as he drained the glass. Thus the toast 
passed from mouth to mouth, and finally came to the turn 
of the Perusians. ' I have no love,' said the one on the 
middle seat, ' but I will give you a better name, to which 
let each one empty his glass ; Ca3sar Octavianus I hail to 
him.' ^^ ' Hail to him,' responded the other Perusian. ' Six 
cyathi to each, .or ten ? What, Gallus and Calpurnius ! 
does not the name sound pleasant to you, that you refuse 
the oroblet ? ' 'I have no reason for drinkino^ to his wel- 
fare,' rejoiued Gallus, scarcely suppressing his emotion. 
' Reason or no,' said the Perusian, ' it is to the father of 
our fatherland!' 'Father of our fatherland !' screamed 
Calpurnius, violently enraged. ' Say rather to the tyrant, 
the bad citizen, the suppressor of liberty ! ' 'Be not so 



Si dubia est, septunce trahar ; si f allit aman- 

tem, 
Ut juguleni curas, nomen utrumque bi- 

bam. 
Tliere the vocative form fixes the 
measure, as the triens contained four 
cyaiM, and the word se2:>tunx will 
not allow of the word being taken 
ia a more general sense. Perhaps it 
made a difference whether the person 
whose health was drunk were absent 
or present. The passage in Plaut, 
Stich. V. 4, 26 : 
Tibi propiuo decuma fonte, tibi tute inde, 

si sapis ; 
where they refer the unintelligible 
decuma to the name of Stephanium, 
who was present, can (laying aside 
all question about the reading) 
scarcely allude to this ; for Saga- 
rinus evidently pledges Stichus, 



" The words with which they 
drank to a person's health, were 
beoie te, or bene tibi. They drained 
the goblet to the health either of 
one or of the whole company. Plaut. 
Stich. V. 4, 27 : 

Bene vos, bene nos, bene te, bene me, bene 
nostrum etiam Stephanium. 

So also Persius, v. 1, 20, and else- 
where. 

"2 The abject senate had expressly 
enjoined that both at public and pri- 
vate banquets a libation should be 
made to Augustus. Dio Cass. li. 19 ; 
Ovid, Fast. ii. 637 : 

Et, bene nos, patrite, bene te, pater optime, 

Caesar, 
Dicite suffuso, sint rata verba, mcro. 



Scene X.] THE DRINKEES. 133 

violent,' said ttie stranger, with a malicious smile ; ' if you 
will not drink it, why leave it undone. But yet I wager, 
Grallus, that you have often enough drunk to our lord 
hefore his house was closed upon you. It certainly is not 
pleasant when a man thinks he has made the lucky throw 
to find the dog suddenly before him.' ' Scoundrel I ' cried 
Grallus, springing up, ^know that it is a matter of entire 
indifference to me whether the miserable, cowardly tyrant 
close his doors on me or no.' ' No doubt he might have 
used stronger measures,' quietly continued the stranger ; 
*and if the lamentations of the Egyptians had made them- 
selves heard, you would now be cooling yourself by a resi- 
dence in Moesia.' ^ Let him dare to send me there,' called 
out Gallus, no longer master of himself. ' Dare I ' said the 
Perusian, with a smile, * he dare, who could annihilate you 
with a single word ! ' ' Or I him,' exclaimed Grallus, now 
enraged beyond all bounds ; ' Julius even met with his 
dagger.' ' Ah ! uuheard-of treason ! ' cried the second 
stranger, starting up ; * I call the assembled company to 
witness that I have taken no part in the highly treasonable 
speeches that have been uttered here. My sandals, slave ; 
to remain here any longer would be a crime.' 

The guests had all risen, although a part of them 
reeled. Some endeavoured to bring Gallus, who now did 
not seem to think so lightly of the words which had 
hastily escaped him, to moderation. Pomponius addressed 
the Perusians, but as they insisted on quitting the house, 
he promised Grallus that he would endeavour to pacify 
them on the way home. 

The other guests also bethought them of departing; 
one full of vexation at the unpleasant breaking up of the 
feast, another blaming Pomponius for introducing such 
unpolished fellows ; Grallus not without some anxiety, 
which he in vain endeavoured to silence by bold resolu- 
tions for the future. 



SCENE THE ELEVENTH. 



THE CATASTROPHE. 



fllHE day commenced very differently, on the present 
. L occasion, in the house of Gallus, from what it had done 
on the morning of his journey. His disgrace, by some fore- 
seen, but to most both unexpected aad looked upon as the 
harbinger of still more severe misfortunes, formed the prin- 
cipal topic of the day, and was discussed in the forum and 
the tabernse wdth a thousand different comments. The 
intelligence of his return to Eome soon became diffused 
throughout the city ; ^ and the loud tidings of his presence 



* Although the ancients had no 
newspapers to disseminate quickly 
the news of the day, the want was 
in some degree remedied by their 
public style of living. Much more of 
their time was passed from, than at, 
home. They visited the forum, the 
piazzas, and other places of resort ; 
they met each other at the baths, the 
taberncB of the tonsorcs, the medici, 
and librarii, and thus the occurrences 
of the day were easily passed from 
one to another. It was therefore quite 
possible that the news of the return 
of Gallus should have spread over 
the whole city by the following day. 

[Another compensation for our 
modern newspapers were copies of the 
acta diurna fuhlica, or urhana, which 
were dispatched to all parts of the 
Eoman empire. These acta or chro- 
nicles of Roman diary did not con- 
tain merely important events, as in 
earlier times did the annales maximi, 
as for example, new laws, appoint- 
ments, decrees of the senate, edicts of 
the magistrates, &c. ; but also many 
other notices of minor importance in 
the circle of the day's news, as an- 



nouncements of festivals, sacrifices, 
fires, processions, and also births, 
marriages, divorces, and deaths. They 
commenced during Caesar's first con- 
sulate, or at any rate not much earlier. 
Suet. C(BS. 20. Their compilation was 
the business of actuarii appointed for 
the purpose under the superinten- 
dence of the director of the tabulcB 
jpuhliccB and the cBrarium. After the 
writing down was finished, the tables 
of chronicles were openly exposed, so 
that any one could read and copy 
them. Thus many scribes made a 
business in writing out the acta for 
certain persons for pay, and even a 
greater number in making extracts 
from them, and sending their copies 
to their subscribers, even in the most 
distant provinces. So these pubhc 
chronicles compensated in a certain 
degree for the modern newspapers, as 
appears from many passages. Tac. 
Ann. xvi. 22, Diurna Pojpuli jRo- 
mani 'per provincias, per exercitus 
curafius leguntur, ut noscatur, quid 
Thrasea non fecerit. Cic. ad Fam. 
xii. 22, 23, 28, etc. Petronius, 53, 
gives a curious copy of the acta.l 



Scene XL] 



THE CATASTROPHE. 



135 



should have collected the troop of clients who, at other 
times, were accustomed to flock in such great numbers to 
his house. On this day, however, the vestibulum remained 
empty ; the obsequious crowd no longer thronged it. The 
selfish, who had promised themselves some advantage from 
the influence of their patron, became indifferent about a 
house which could no longer be considered, as it had lately 
been, the entrance-hall of the palace. The timid were de- 
terred by fear of the cloud which hung threatening over 
Grallus, lest they themselves should be overtaken by the 
destroying flash.^ The swarm of parasites, prudently 
weighing their own interest, avoided a table of doubtful 
duration, in order that they might not forfeit their seats 
at ten others, where undisturbed enjoyment for the future 
appeared more secure. And even those few in whom feel- 
ings of duty or shame had overcome other considerations, 
seemed to be not at all dissatisfied when the ostiarius 
announced to them that his master would receive no visitors 
that day. In the house itself all was quiet. The majority 
of the slaves had not yet returned from the villa, and those 
who were present seemed to share the grief of the deeply- 
affected dispensatoT. 

Uneasiness and anxiety had long since banished sleep 
from the couch of Grallus. He could not conceal from him-- 
self to what a precipice a misuse of his incautious expres- 
sions would drive him, and that he could expect no for- 
bearance or secresy from the suspicious-looking strangers. 



^ Although it has been said that 
the fact of Augustus having repudi- 
ated a man's friendship, was not ne- 
cessarily followed by the desertion of 
his friends, yet this was not exactly 
the position of Grallus, to whom the 
interdict was a sort of favour, in place 
of a more rigorous punishment, and 
hence might probably cause the alien- 
ation of friends. Ovid bitterly com- 
plains of those who, in a similar case, 



abjured their friend through fear. 
See Trist, i. 8 and 9, 17. 

Dum stetimus, turbse quantum satis esset, 
habebat 
Notaquidem, sed nou ambitiosa domus ; 
At simul est impulsa, omnes timuere rui- 
nam 
Cautaque communi terga dedere fugse. 
Saava nee admirer metumit si fulmina, 
quorum 
Ignibus afflari proxima quaeque vident. 



136 GALLÜS. ■ [Scene XT. 

Animated by the dreams of freedom with which Calpurnius 
had entertained him ; half enlisted in the plans which the 
enthusiast, sincerely moved at the misfortune of his friend, 
had proposed to him; higlily excited by the strength of 
the wine and the heat of play ; and stung to fury by the 
insolence of the strange guests, he had suffered himself to 
be drawn into an indiscreet avowal which he was far from 
seriously meaning. On calmer reflection he perceived the 
foDy of all those bold projects which, in the first moment 
of excitement, seemed to present the possibility of averting 
his own fate by the overthrow of the tyrant ; and he now 
found himself without the hope of escape, in the power of 
two men, whose whole behaviour was calculated to inspire 
an3^thing but confidence. His only consolation was that they 
had been introduced by Pomponius, through whose exer- 
tions he hoped possibly to obtain their silence ; for Gallus 
still firmly believed in the sincerity of his friendship, and 
paid no attention even to a discovery which his slaves pro- 
fessed to have made on the w-ay homeward. It was as 
follows: — His road, in returning from the mansion of Len- 
tulufej passed not far from that of Largus ; and the slaves 
Avho preceded him with the lantern had seen three men, 
resembling very much Pomponius and the two Perusians, 
approach the house. One of them struck the door with 
the metal knocker, and they were all immediately admitted 
by the ostiarius. Grallus certainly thought so late a visit 
strange ; but, as it was no uncommon thing for Largus to 
break far into the night with wine and play, he persuaded 
himself that it must be some acquaintances who had called 
upon him on their return from an earlier party. 

At last the drowsy god had steeped him in a beneficial 
oblivion of these cares, and although the sun was by this 
time high in the heavens, yet Chresimus was carefully 
watching lest any noise in the vicinity of his bed-chamber 
should abridge the moments of his master's repose. The 
old man wandered about the house uneasily, and appeared 
to be impatiently waiting for something. In the atrium 



Scene XL] THE CATASTROPHE. 137 

he was met by Leonidas, approaching from the door. 'Well, 
no messenger yet ? ' he hastily inquired of him. ' None/ 
replied the vicarius. * And no intelligence in the house? ' 
Chresimus again asked. ' None since his departure/ was 
the answer. He shook his head, and proceeded to the 
atrium, where a loud knocking at the door was heard. 
The ostiarius opened it. It was an express with a letter 
from Lycoris. 'At last,' cried Chresimus, as he took the 
letter from the tabellarius, 'My lady,' said the messenger, 
'enjoined me to make all possible haste, and bade me give 
the letter only to yourself or your lord. Present it to 
him directly.' 'Your admonition is not wanted,' replied 
Chresimus ; ' I have been long expecting your arrival.' 

The faithful servant had indeed anxiously expected the 
letter. Although Grallus had strictly forbidden him from 
letting the cause of his departure from the villa become 
known, yet Chresimus believed that he should be rendering 
him an important service by acquainting Lycoris with the 
unfortunate occurrence. She had at Baise only half broken 
to him the secret, which confirmed, but too well, his opinion 
of Pomponius. He had therefore urged her not to lose a 
moment in making Gallus acquainted, at whatever sacri- 
fice to herself, with the danger that was threatening him, 
and immediately return herself, in order to render lasting 
the first impression caused by her avowal. He now has- 
tened towards the apartment in which his master was still 
sleeping, cautiously fitted the three-toothed key into the 
opening of the door, and drew back the bolts by which it 
was fastened. Gallus, awakened by the noise, sprang up 
from his couch. ' What do you bring ? ' cried he to the 
domestic, who had pushed aside the tapestry, and entered. 
' A letter from Lycoris,' said the old man, 'just brought by 
a courier. He urged me to deliver it immediatel}^, and so 
I was forced to disturb you.' Gallus hastily seized the 
tablets. They were not of the usual small and neat shape 
which afforded room for a few tender words only, but by 
their size evidently enclosed a large letter. ' Doubtless,' 



138 GALLÜS. [Scene XI. 

said he, as he cut the threads with a knife which Chresimus 
had presented to him, ' doubtless the poor girl has been 
terrified by some unfavourable reports.' He read the con- 
tents, and turned pale. With the anxiety of a fond heart, 
she accused herself as the cause of what had befallen her 
lover, and disclosed to him the secret which must enlighten 
him on the danger that threatened him from Pomponius. 
Without sparing herself, she alluded to her former con- 
nexion with the traitor, narrated the occurrences of that 
evening, his attempt to deceive her, and his villanous 
threats. She conjured Gallus to take, with prudence and 
resolution, such steps as were calculated to render harmless 
the intrigues of his most dangerous enemy. She would 
herself arrive, she added, soon after he received the letter, 
in order to beg pardon with her own mouth for what had 
taken place. 

There stood the undeceived Grallus in deep emotion. 
' Eead,' said he, handing the letter to the faithful freedman, 
who shared all his secrets. Chresimus took it, and read 
just what he had expected. * I was not deceived,' said he, 
* and thank Lycoris for clearly disclosing to you, although 
late, the net they would draw around you. Now hasten 
to Csesar with such proofs of treachery in your hand, and 
expose to him the plot which they have formed against 
you. Haply the Gods may grant that the storm which 
threatens to wreck the ship of your prosperity may yet 
subside.' 

'I fear it is too late,' replied his master, 'but I will 
speak with Pomponius. He must know that I see through 
him ; perchance he will not then venture to divulge what, 
once published, must be succeeded by inevitable ruin. 
Dispatch some slaves immediately to his house, to the 
forum, and to the tabernse, where he is generally to be 
met with at this hour. He must have no idea that I have 
heard from Lycoris. They need only say that I particu- 
larly beg he will call upon me as soon as possible.' 

Chresimus hastened to fulfil the command of his lord. 



Scene XI.] 



THE CATASTROPHE. 



139 



The slaves went and returned without having found Pom- 
pon ius. The porter at his lodgings had answered that 
his master had set out early in the morning on a journey; 
but one of the slaves fancied that he had caught a glimpse 
of him in the carinso, although he withdrew so speedily 
that he had not time to overtake him. At last, Leonidas 
returned from the forum ; he had been equally unsuc- 
cessful in his search, but brought other important intelli- 
gence, communicated to him by a friend of his master. 
' An obscure report,' said this man, ' is going about the 
forum,^ that Largus had, in the assembled senate, accused 
(xallus of high treason, and of plotting the murder of the 
emperor ; that two strangers had been brought into the 
curia as witnesses, and that Augustus had committed to 
the senate the punishment of the outrage.' 

The intelligence was but too well founded. In order 
to anticipate any steps that Grallus might take for his 
security, Pomponius had announced to Largus on the very 
night of the supper with Lentulus, that his artifice had 
met with complete success. At daybreak^ Largus repaired 
to the imperial palace, and portrayed in glaring colours 
the treasonable designs which Grallus, when in his cups, 
had divulged. Undecided as to how he should act, yet 
solicitous for his own safety, Augustus had referred the 



' The acts of the senate, until 
publicly proclaimed, remained än6p' 
f)T]Ta, not to be divulged by the 
members ; but there can be no doubt 
that some part of the debates was 
often suffered to transpire previously. 

* The remark of Suet. 78, about 
Augustus, will admit of exception in 
a particular case : Matutina vigilia 
offendebatur, ac si vel officii, vel sacri 
causa maturius cvigilandum esset, ne 
id contra commodum facer et, in 'prox- 
imo cujuscunque domesticorum ccuna- 



culo manebat. The meaning of ma- 
tutina vigilia is explained by the 
preceding words: Si interrujptum 
soranum rccwperare, ut evenit, non 
posset, lectoribus aut fabulatoribus 
arcessitis, resumebat producebatque 
ultra primam scspe lucem. Other 
emperors gave admission to distin- 
guished persons long before day- 
break. So says Pliny, Epist. iii, 5, 
of his uncle, Ante lucem ibat ad 
Vespasianum Imperator em ; nam 
ille quoque noctibus utebatur. 



140 GALLUS. [ScENB XL 

matter to the decision of the senate,^ most of the members 
of which were far from displeased at the charge. It is 
true that many voices were raised, demanding that the 
accused should not at least be condemned unheard ; but 
they availed nothing against the louder clamour of those 
who declared that there were already previous charges 
sufficient to justify extreme severity ; and that they them- 
selves should be guilty of high treason did they, by delay 
or forbearance, expose the life of Ci3esar and the welfare 
of the republic to danger. The result of the debate was 
a decree, by which Gallus was banished to an inhospitable 
country on the Pontus Enxinus, and his property con- 
fiscated to the emperor.^ He was also ordered to leave 
Kome on the following morning, and Italy within ten days. 
At the seventh hour Calpurnius rushed into the house 
of Gallus bringing confirmation of the dread decree, and 
was soon followed by others from all quarters. Grallus 
received the news, which cleared up the last doubts con- 
cerning his fate, with visible grief but manly composure. 
He thanked his friend for his sympathy, warning him at 
the same time to be more cautious on his own account for 
the future. He then requested him to withdraw, ordered 
Chresimus to bring his double tablets, and delivered to 
him money and jewels to be saved forLycoris and himself. 
Having pressed the hand of the veteran, who wept aloud, 
he demanded to be left alone. The domestic loitered for 
a while, and then retired full of the worst forebodings. 



^ Suet. Aug. 66, says only : Gallo 
quoque et accusatorium denuncia- 
tionibus et senatus consultis ad ne- 
cem com'pulso. Dio Cass. liii. 23, is 
more explicit : Kal t] yepovcria UTraaa 
aKuival re avrhu iv to7s SiKaTrrjploiS, 
Koi (pvyelv rrjs ovcrias or^priQivTa, 
KOL raurriu re tm AvyouffTO) SoOriuai, 
Kol eauTovs ßovdvrriaaL i\p7]'pi(raTo. 
It is nowhere said that Augustus was 
the direct cause of his death, or that 



he acceded to it ; from his complaints 
after it took place, we may rather 
conclude the contrary. 

^ Dio Cass, supra : Kai 6 juez/ 
TrepLaXyrjaas iirl tovtois kavrov -npu- 
Karexp^o'c^To. Amm. Marc. xvii. 4 : 
stricto incuhuit ferro. 0^'id, Amor. 
iii. 6, 63 : 
Sanguinis atque animaj prodige, Galle, tute. 



Scene XI.] THE CATASTROPHE. 141 

Grallus fastened the door, and for greater security 
placed the wooden bar across it. He then wrote a few 
words to Augustus, begging him to give their freedom to 
the faithful servants who had been in most direct attend- 
ance upon him. Words of farewell to Lycoris filled the 
other tablets. After this, he reached from the wall the 
sword, to the victories achieved by which he owed his 
fatal greatness, struck it deep into his breast, and as he fell 
upon the couch, dyed yet more strongly the purple coverlet 
with the streams of his blood. 

The lictor, sent to announce to him the sentence of 
banishment, arrived too late. Chresimus had already, 
with faithful hand, closed the eyes of his beloved master, 
and round the couch stood a troop of weeping slaves, un- 
certain of their future lot, and testifying by the loudness 
of their grief, that a man of worth was dead. 



^CENE THE TWELFTH. 

— ♦ — 

THE GlEAVE. 



THE intelligence of the melancholy end of Grallus soon 
reached Augustus, and made the stronger impression 
on him, from several iufluential voices having been already 
raised in disapproval of the senate's premature and severe 
decree, and expressing doubts as to the sincerity of his 
accusers. Now that Gallus himself had decided matters 
in such a way as allowed of no recall or mitigation of his 
sentence, and that the emperor had no longer any anxiety 
for his own safety, the consciousness of great injustice 
having been committed, took its place. A true version of 
what had passed at the house of Lentulus soon got abroad, 
and it became by degrees established that Gallus was much 
less guilty than had been supposed, and that he had fallen 
a victim to an intrigue, which the hostilely-disposed senate 
had embraced as a welcome opportunity for his destruction.^ 
Augustus then loudly lamented the fate, which robbed him 
alone, among all men, of the liberty of being angry with 
his friends, according to his own measure and will.^ He 



' The base conduct of the senate 
in the condemnation of Gallus, is 
well described by Dio Cass. liii. 24. 
Th Sr} T(Sv TToAAwf Kiß8r]Kov koI e/c 
TOVTov dirfXeyxdv, t^Ti e/ceti/Ji/ re, 
hv Te'cos eKoA-OKeuoj/, ovt<o tSts 5te- 
ÖTj/cai/, locrre Koi avTOx^ipia ano- 
6ave7v avayKd(Tai, Koi -Kphs rhu Adp- 
yov air^KXeivav, iireLSrjnep av^eiv 
^PX^TO' ^eXKovris ttov koI Kara rov- 
rov TO, avrd, &u 76 re toloot6v ol 
crvfxßfj, \pr}(pic7a6ai. 

2 See Suet. Aug. 66. Sed Gallo 
quoque et accusatorum denunciatio- 
nibus et senatus consultis ad nccem 
comjpulso, laudavit quidem jpietatem 



tantopere -pro se indignantium : ccb- 
terum et illacrimavit et vicem suam 
conquestus est, quod sibi soli non 
liceret amicis, quantum v eilet, irasci. 
Whether the complaint of Augustus 
was sincere, whether his grief was 
real or pretended, whether he consi- 
dered the fate of Gallus too hard, 
or whether, after all anxiety on his 
own account was at an end, he played 
the part of a magnanimous man, can- 
not be decided from the accounts given 
us. We must look for the truth in 
Dio Cassius, according to whom Lar- 
gus continued to rise in the emperor's 
favour, and so come to a decision as 
to the real feelings of Augustus. 



Scene XII. ] 



THE GRAVE. 



143 



firmly denounced the decree whicli made him master over 
the property of Grallus, and ordained that whatever dispo- 
sition of it might have been previously made, should have 
full effect. The senate, with the same alacrity that they 
had entertained the accusation, now proceeded to declare 
that all guilt had been effaced by his death, and that 
nothing should stand in the way of an honourable funeral.^ 

In the other parts of Eome the most violent indig- 
nation was excited by the news of the death of Grallus and 
of the treachery employed against him. Pomponius was 
nowhere to be found, but Largus was made to feel, in its 
full measure, the contempt due to his villany.'* On his 
appearance next morning in the forum, a man with whom 
he was unacquainted stepped forward, and asked whether 
he knew him. On Largus replying in the negative, he 
called his companion as a witness, and made him sign 
his name to a tablet containing this avowal, in order to 
be secure against any charge which Largus might bring 
against him. Another, as Largus approached, held his hand 
before his mouth and nose, and advised the bystanders to 
do the same, since it was scarcely safe even to breathe in 
the vicinity of such a person. Sincere compassion for the 
unhappy fate of Grallus was everywhere evinced, and more 
especially among those classes which had not found in his 
advancement any cause of envy. 

Profound quiet and sincere lamentation reigned in the 



' We need not stop to inquire 
how far truth has been set aside for 
this opportunity of describing a fune- 
ral. But if, according to Suetonius, 
a declaration was made by Augustus 
concerning the treachery employed 
against Gallus, then such a repara- 
tion would be not at all unlikely. 

* These facts are related by Dio 
Cass. liii. 24. 'O fieVrot UpoKovXios 



(ras TTore avrcf r7]v re p7va Ka\ rh 
oT6(xa rh iavrov rfj x^'P* i-rricrx^^v' 
iuSeiKVVfxevos to7s (Tvi/ovcriv, on fxrjS' 
ai/airveijaai riui Trapövros aiirov ae- 
(pd\€ia eXy], aKKos Se ris Trpocr^Ade 
re avTw, Kaiirep ayucljs &V, /xera 
jxapTvpuu Koi iiviTpero, ei yvwpi^oi 
eavTou- iireidi] Se i^r]pp7]<raT0, is 
ypafxixaretov t^v dpurjcriv avrov eue- 
ypa-\\i^v. ojanep koi i^hu to} imKcp 
Koi, '6v ouK ijSei Trporepou, auKocpav- 



144 



GALLUS. 



[Scene XII. 



house of misfortune. Before the doors the mournful 
cypress had some time before been placed, — a sign to all 
who approached, that one of the occupants of the house 
had passed into the region of shadows. Within doors, the 
men were engaged in anointing the body, and in endea- 
vouring to efface the marks of the last struggle. They 
afterwards, with the help of Eros, placed on it the purple- 
edged toga, and adorned the brows with one of those gar- 
lands which the valiant warrior had gained in battle. 
This finished, they laid the corpse softly on its last bed, 
the purple coverlet of which left the ivory feet alone 
visible, and then set it down in the atrium, with the feet 
towards the door. Close by the body, Arabian incense^ 
was burnt in a silver censer, and a slave performed 
his last offices to the departed, by driving away the 
flies from the hands and feet with a fan of peacock's 
feathers.*" 

The corpse lay in state for several days, and during 
that time the remaining preparations were made for the 
funeral, which Chresimus had commissioned the lihiti- 
narius to celebrate with all the pomp suitable to the rank 
of the deceased. Authorised to do so by the emperor, 
the old man found some alleviation of his grief in the most 
careful fulfilment of this his last duty, and willingly sacri- 
ficed a portion of the half of the property which fell to his 
share, that nothing might be wanting which could increase 
the splendour of the solemnity. 

About the fourth hour of the eighth day a herald 
proceeded through the streets, and with a loud voice 



^ Arabia is, as is known, the 
fatherland of frankincense, and Saba 
was, according to Pliny, xii. 14, 30, 
the regio turifera : hence Virgil, 
Georg, ii. 116, says: 

Solis est turea virga Sabseis. 

" The use of fans, made of pea- 
cock's and other feathers, is well 



known. The custom here mentioned 
does not apply merely to the apotheo- 
sis of the emperors ; in a decree of 
Justinian, Cod. vii. 6, 5, it is said, 
Sed et qui domini fumes pileati ante- 
cedunt vel in ipso lectulo st antes ca- 
daver vent Hare videntur, si hoc ex 
voluntate fiat vel testatoris vel he- 
redis, fiant illico cives Ramani. 



Scene XII.] THE GEAVE. 145 

invited the populace to the funeral, and the games attend- 
ant upon it. ' A Qairite/ cried he, * is dead, ^ow is the 
time, for any who have leisure, to join the funeral pro- 
cession of Cornelius G-allus ; the corpse is being carried 
from the house.' -The summons was not without effect. 
A crowd of sight-seers and inquisitive people flocked 
towards the house and the forum to witness the spectacle, 
but many persons were to be seen clad in dark-coloured 
togas, a token that they wished to be not idle spectators, 
but assistants at the ceremony. 

Meanwhile the designator, supported by some lictors, 
to keep off the crowd, had arranged the order of the 
procession, which already had begun to move from the 
house in the direction of the forum. In front marched a 
band of flute-players and horn -blowers, who by pouring 
forth alternately plaintive strains and spirit-stirring music, 
seemed at one time to express the sorrow and mourn- 
ing of the escort, and at another to extol the greatness 
and worth of the deceased. Next followed the customary 
mourning-women, who, with feigned grief, chanted forth 
their untutored dirge of eulogy of the departed. Then 
came a number of actors, reciting such passages from 
the tragedians as were applicable to the present occur- 
rence. The solemnity of the scene was interrupted only 
now and then by some witty buffooneries, whilst the 
leader endeavoured to represent the defunct in dress, 
gesture, and manner of speech. After these came swarms 
of hirelings ; there followed no lengthy train of glorious 
ancestors, it is true, but freedmen bearing brazen tablets, 
on which were inscribed the victories gained by the 
deceased, and the cities he had conquered. These were 
succeeded by others, carrying the crowns won by his 
deeds of valour, and, in compliance with a wish which 
Gallus while living had often expressed, the rolls of 
his elegies, which, more enduring than martial renown 
and honours, have handed down his name to poste- 



146 



GALLUS. 



[Scene XII. 



rity.''' After all these came the lectus itself, with the 
corpse borne by eight freed men, and followed by Chresi- 
mus, and, with few exceptions, the rest of the family, with 
hat on head, a sign of that freedom which had been be- 
queathed to them in their master's will. The cavalcade 
w^as finished by his friends and many citizens who, though 
not intimate with Grallus, bewailed his death as a public 
calamity. 

Having arrived at the forum, the bearers set the lectus 
down before the rostra, and the cavalcade formed a semi- 
circle round it. A friend of many years' standing then 
mounted the stage, and pictured with feeling and eloquence 
the merits of the deceased, as a warrior, a citizen, a poet, 
and a man, throwing in but a slight allusion to the recent 
event. It was not one of those artificial panegyrics which 
too often sought to heap unmerited glory on the dead, at 
the expense of truth ; but all who heard him were bound 
to confess that the words he spoke bore a simple and honest 
testimony to the life and actions of a deserving man. 

This act of friendship having been performed, the pro- 
cession was re-formed, and moved onwards to the monu- 
ment which Grallus had erected for himself on the Appian 
Way.^ There the funeral pile, made of dried fir-trees, 
and hung round with festoons and tapestry, had been 
erected, and the whole encompassed by a circle of cypress- 
trees. The bearers lifted the lectus upon it, whilst others 
poured precious ointments on the corpse from boxes of 



^ Taken from Propertius, ii. 13, 



25 



Sat mea, sat magna est, si tres sint pompa 

libeUi, 
Qnos ego Perseplionag maxima dona feram. 

In the same place lie mentions the 
lances odoriferas, which were carried 
in front. 

^ As Ovid says in that brilhant 



elegy, written in a just spirit of self- 
respect {Amor. i. 15) : — 

Cedunt carminibus reges regumque trium- 
pM, 
Cedat et auriferi ripa beata Tagi. 

Although the poems of Gallus are 
almost unknown to us, yet his uame 
still lives, and what Ovid sang is 
fulfilled:— 

Gallus et Hesperus et Gallus notus Eois ; 
Et sua cum Gallo nota Lycoris erit. 



Scene XII.] THE GEAVE. 147 

alabaster, and the bystanders threw frankincense and gar- 
lands upon it, as a last offering of affectionate regard. 
Chresimus, with the same faithful hands that had closed 
the eyes of the deceased, now opened them, that they 
might look upwards to heaven. Then, amidst the loud 
wailing of the spectators, and the sounds of the horns and 
flutes, he seized the burning torch, and with averted face 
held it underneath the pile, until a bright flame shot up- 
wards from the dry rushes that formed the interior. 

The pile was burnt to the ground, and the glowing 
ashes, according to custom, extinguished by wine. Some 
friends of the deceased, and Chresimus, collected the 
remains of his body, which were not more than sufficient 
to fill a moderate-sized urn, sprinkled them with old wine 
and fresh milk, dried them again in linen cloths, and 
placed them with amomum and other perfumes in the 
urn. This Chresimus having bedewed with a flood of 
tears, next deposited in the tomb, which on being opened 
sent forth odours from roses and innumerable bottles of 
ointment. The doors were again closed, and after pro- 
nouncing the last farewell to his manes, and receiving the 
purifying water, the assembled multitude departed on its 
way back to the city. 

The procession was a numerous one ; there had been 
wanting only one person — she who above all others seemed 
bound and entitled to fulfil the last offices to the manes of, 
the deceased. Lycoris did not arrive in Eome till the 
rites had been accomplished. She had with difficulty 
escaped the traitor, whose inflamed passion had urged him 
even to offer her violence. Early in the morning of the 
succeeding day, Chresimus was seen to open the door of 
the monument, and to enter with her, that she might 
there weep hot tears of affliction over the ashes of Grallus. 



L 2 



EXCUKSUSES, 



EXCUESUSES ON THE FIEST SCENE. 



THE EOMAN FAMILY. 

THE word Family, tlie derivation of whicli from, tlie Oscan 
famel, famul, is indubitable, signifies everytbing wbicb an in- 
depen(Jent man bas by private rigbt in potestate, or wbicb is under 
bis control, as well persons (free or slaves) as articles of property ; 
for instance, in tbe old legal form : familia ad cedem Cereris — ve- 
num iret, in Liv. iii. 5o ; and xlv. 40. In a more contracted sense, 
bowever, familia signifies, first, tbe wbole. collected society of a 
bouse, free and slaves, at tbe bead of wbicb stands a paterfami- 
lias ; as, for example, we frequently meet in tbe old legal forms 
witb familia et pecunia (persons in opposition to property) : Fest. 
SacratcB Leges, 318; Cic. de Invent, ii. 50. Secondly, tbe free 
members united togetber by common descent, tbat is, eitber all 
tbe free persons ranged under one paterfamilias (Paul. Diac. p. 
86), or in a wider acceptation, all tbe members of a larger family 
circle, wbo bave a common ancestor, and bear tberefore tbe same 
name, but are not under tbe autbority of one paterfamilias (tbus 
tbe agnati, wbo form a subdivision of a gens) ; and still more com- 
prebensively, all tbe members of a gens, as in Liv. i. 7 ; ii. 49 : ix. 
33, wbere tbe Petibi and Fabii are signified by tbe word familia. 
Tbirdly, tbe slaves belonging to a bouse (see tbe Excursus on 
tbe Slaves). Fourtbly, tbe property of tbose belonging tbereto, 
especially of tbe deceased, as in tbe tevmfamilice herciscundce, tbe 
division of an inberitance, or agnatus familiam haheto, Liv. ii. 41 : 
Ter. Heaut. v. 1, 36 ; Ulp. Big. 50, 16, 195, § 1. (Families aj^pcl- 
latio) varie accepta est ; nam et in res et in perso7ias diducitur. Ad 
pe)'sonas autem refertur famili(e significatio ita, cum de patrono et 
liherto loquitur lex : e.v ea familia, etc. § 2. Familice appellatio re- 
fertur et ad corporis cujusdam sigmßcationem, quod aut jure proprio 
ipsorum, aut communi universce cognationis continetur, etc. 

Every free man, not in tbe 2}otestas of anotber, but baving a 
domestic position of bis own, was considered as a paterfamibas, 
wbetber be were really a fatber or not. Ulp. Dig. 50, 16, 195, § 2. 
Paterfamilias appellatur, qui in domo dominium habet (cf. Sen. 
Epist. 47), recteque hoc nomine appellatur, quamvis filium non ha- 
heat; non enim solam personam ejus, sed et jus demonstramus. De- 
nique et pupillum patrem appellamus. JJt cum paterfamilias inori- 
tur, quotquot capita ei suhjecta fuerunt, singulas familias incipiunt 



152 THE EOMAN FAMILY. 

habere^ singuli enim patnimfanxiliarum nomeyi suheunt, etc. So also 
the sons, if married, and having children themselves, became jt?«^;*es- 
familiarum, but not until they were freed from the patria poiestas, 
which happened with the death of the father, or in the particular 
case of the son becoming &.ßamen dialis (or the daughter a virgo 
vestalis) ; or lastly, by emancipation imder the form of a thrice- 
repeated sale and freedom. 

If we add to the nearest members of a family, as children and 
grandchildren, the number of slaves and clients, such a Roman 
family assumes the position of a small state, in which the pater- 
familias ruled with patriarchal authority. Cicero, de Sen. ii., so 
describes the house of Appius Csecus : Quatuor rohustosßlios, quin- 
queßliaSy tmitain domum, tantas clientelas Aijpius reyehat et senex et 
ccBcus — tenehat non modo cmctoritatem, sed etiam wipe?'m7n m sttos ; 
metiiehant servi, verehantur liheri, carum omnes hahehant ; vigehat ilia 
in domo patrius mos et disciplina. A further account of a man at 
home is given in the discussion of the various relations in which the 
members of a family stand to each other. We shall next consider 
the women, then the children, the slaves, and, lastly, the clients. 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE I. 



THE WOMEN AND KOMAN MAEEIAGE. 

WHILST we see that in most of tlie Grecian states, and espe- 
cially in Athens, the women (i.e. the whole female sex) were 
little esteemed and treated as children all their lives, confined to the 
gyncBkonitis, shut out from social life, and all intercourse with men 
and their amusements, we find that in Eome exactly the reverse 
was the case. Although the wife is naturally subordinate to the 
husband, yet she is always treated with open attention and regard. 
The Roman housewife always appears as the mistress of the, whole 
household economy, instructress of the children, and guardian of 
the honour of the house, equally esteemed with the paterfamilias 
both in and out of the house. Plut. Rom. 20 : 'AXXa nkwoi TzoXKa 
TOAQ yvvai^iv eiQ Tifitjv äiiklnüKav, (hv Kai ravrd sariv' (EicTTaaQaL fjev 
65ov ßaSiZovrraiQ, k.t.X. The women continued, it is true, as a rule, 
out of public life, a's custom kept them back, yet they might appear 
and give evidence in a court of law. The cases in which they ap- 
peared as complainants or defendants, extremely seldom occurred 
before the time of the decline of the Republic (although it was not 
forbidden by law, as we learn by Plutarch, Num. c. Lye. 3) ; for the 
examples which Val. Max. viii. 3 ; Cic. Brut. 58 ; Quinct. Inst. i. 
1, give, belong to a later period ; and what Val. Max. iii. 8, 6, relates 
of Sempronia, is of an entirely different natiu^e. Originally, women 
had even the right of appearing to complain for another {pro aliis 
postulare), but they very rarely made use of it, and it was after- 
wards forbidden by a praetorian edict, because Apania made a 
shameless use of this permission. (Val. Max. viii. 3, 2 ; Ulp. Dig. 
iii. 1, 1.) Afterwards they appeared frequently, and in all times, in 
court as witnesses, or to intercede for their relatives. Cic. Verr. i. 
37, says : Cur (cogis) sodalis uxorem, soclalis socrum, domu7n denique 
totam sodalis mortui contra te testimonium dicere ? cur pudentissitnas 
lectissimasque feminas in tantum vii'orum convetittim insolitas invi- 
tasque iirodire cogis 9 but it by no means follows that this was 
merely an exception ; amongst us, also, women always appear re- 
luctantly in court. See also Suet. Cces. 74 ; Claud. 40 , Tac. Ann. 
iii. 49 ; Paul. Dig. xxii. 5, 18 ; Ulp. Dig. xxviii. 1, 20. We find^ 
even vestals appearing, in order to intercede in behalf of their 
relatives, or to give evidence, as in Cic. p. Font. 17 : Tendit ad vos 
virgo vestalis manus supplices, etc. And Tacitus mentions as an 



154 THE WOME]^ AND ROMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus I. 

instance of the pride of Urgulania, that she would not appear as 
a witness (Ann. ii. 34) : Cceterum JJrgulanice potentia adeo mmia 
civitati erat, ut testis in causa quadam, qu(B apud senatum tracfa- 
batur, venire dedignaretur : missus est praetor, qui domi interrogaret, 
cum virgines Vestales in foro et judicio audiri, quoties testimonium 
dicerent, vetus mos fuerit. As the vestal Tarratia was expressly 
allowed this Privilegium of hearing testimony hy the lex Horatia^ 
it might be supposed that women generally had not this right ; 
but it must be remembered that the capability of bearing witness is 
here to be understood in a wider sense, which also includes the 
power of being a witness at an act of emancipatio. 

Walking abroad was only limited by scruple and custom, not by 
law or the jealous will of the husband. The women frequented 
public theatres as well as the men, and took their places with 
them at festive banquets. Setting aside the licence of later 
times, we find great freedom in these matters in the days of the 
republic. Cic. p. Ccel. 8 : Est enim dictum ah Ulis fore qui dicerent, 
uxores suas a coena, redeuntes attrectatas esse a CcbHo. Val. Max. 
iii. 1, 2. Cicero relates an interesting trait in the life of Q. Cicero, 
ad. Att. V. 1 : Prandimus in Arcano. Nosti huncßindum : quo ut veni- 
mus, humanissime Quintus, Pomponia, inquit, tu invita midieres, ego 
acciveropueros. At ilia audientihus nobis, Ego sum, inquit, hie hospita: 
id aide^n ex eo, id ojnnor, quod antecesserat Statius, ut p)randium nobis 
videret. Tum Quintus, En, inquit mihi, hcec ego patior quotidie. 
Dices, quid quceso istuc ei'at ? magnum : itaque me ipsum commovei^at, 
sic absurde et aspere verbis vidtuque responderat : dissimulavi dolens. 
Discubuitmis omnes pr(Bter illam, cui tarnen Quintus de mensa misit, 
ilia rejecit. Even the vestals participated in the banquets of the 
men, Macrob. Sat. ii. 8. In ancient drawings we see the women at 
table beside the men. 

In her own house the woman was not confined to particular 
separate apartments, but in ancient times, at least, her own place 
of abode was in the most important part of the house, the atrium. 
Corn. Prcef. : Quem enitn Po^nanorum pudet uxorem ducere in convi- 
vium aid cujus materfamilias non primum locum tenet cBdium atque 
in celebritate versatur f Here, in the midst of her slaves, she pur- 
sued her domestic occupations; here stood the lectus genialis or 
adversus, in ancient times the real, afterwards the symbolical bridal 
bed, her own proper place of honour. We find it so even in Cicero's 
time, in the house of M. ^milius Lepidus, who, as interrex, was 
insulted by the Clodiani. Cic. p. Mil. 5: Deinde omni vi janua 
expugnata et imagines 7najorum dejecerunt et lectulum adversutn uxoris 
ejus Cornelice fregerunt, itemque telas, qum ex vetere more in atrio 



Scene!.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE, 155 

texebantur, diruerunt. So Lucretia is represented in Liv. i, 67 : 
Node sera deditmn lancB inter lucxibrantes anciUas in medio csdium 
(atrio), sedentem inveniunt. And in a fragment quoted by Gell. 
xvi. 9, tlie materfamilias appears sitting on this lectus : Mater- 
familias tua in lecto adverso sedet. 

As regards conjugal fidelity, we may safely conclude that in the 
earlier times excesses on either side seldom occurred. When 
morals began to deteriorate, we first meet with great lapses from 
this fidelity, and men and women outbid each other in wanton 
indulgences, Sen. Ep. 95. The original modesty of the women 
became gradually more rare, whilst luxury and extravagance 
waxed stronger, and of many women it could be said, -as Clitipho 
complained of his Bacchis, Ter. Heaut. ii. 1, 15, Mea est petax, 
procax, magnißca, sumptuosa, nohilis. Many Roman ladies, to 
compensate for the neglect of their husband, had a lover of their 
own, who, under the pretence of being the lady's procurator, ac- 
companied her at all times. See Mart. vi. 61 ; xii. 38 ; Hor. Epod. 
8, 12. As a natural consequence of this, celibacy continually 
increased amongst the men, and there was the greatest levity 
respecting divorce. 

Notwithstanding this more independent position of the female 
sex, Koman marriage appears to have had very severe forms in 
relation to the woman, but these are seen in a milder light, when 
the potestas of the paterfamilias is rightly understood. The sub- 
ject may be divided into matrimonium justum (also legitimwri) and 
non justum. The first {Justce nuptice in Cic. de Rep. v. 5 ; Gai. 
Jnst. i. 55), occurred only when the comiuhium was competent to 
both parties, i. e. an equal right on either side to fulfil a lawful 
marriage according to the Roman rites. In ancient times equality 
of condition was required, so that both patricians and plebeians 
married only amongst their own class. By the Lex Canideia, 309 
A. TJ. c. 445 B. c, connnubium between patricians and plebeians 
was authorised, but the necessity of citizenship still remained 
(with some exceptions made afterwards., as in the case of senators 
and their children, who might not intermarry with freedmen). 
The matrimonium non justum, on the other hand (iixor injusta, 
Ulp. Dig. xlviii. 5, 13), in which connubium was wanting on one 
side, as in the case of marriage between patricians and plebeians 
before the lex Canuleia, and between Romans and peregrini^ was 
certainly, in a moral point of view, an equally lawful and binding 
marriage, but it was not valid /wre gentium, and it wanted the im- 
portant consequences, as regards civil rights, of the pair ia potestas 
and manus. Actual marriage, with the rights of having children. 



156 THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. [Excuksus T. 

was tlie privilege of the free alone, whilst slaves could live in a 
contuhernium : see the Excursus on the Slaves. 

The matrimonium justuni could be performed in two ways 
(Quinct. V. 10; ^2, duce for mm sunt matrimoniorum) , either with 
conventio in manum, or without it. By the stricter form of mar- 
riage the woman came in manum mri (in manu esse, in manum 
convenisse, alienojuri suhjedum esse, see Liv. xxxiv. 2) i.e. she quite 
passed out of her own family (familia mutatur through capitis di- 
minutio minima, Ulp. xi. 13) and into that of her husband, who 
treated her as his daughter, and exercised over her a kind aipatria 
potestas, which Livy, xxxiv. 7, calls servitus muliebris. Ter. Andr. 
i. 5; 60 : Te isti virum do, amicum, tutorem, patrem. — As the com- 
mon expression potestas in a more limited sense stands also for 
patria potestas and sei-vitus, so does manus in a more limited sense 
for the power which in the stricter form of marriage the husband 
obtained over the wife. Potestas also is used for manus in Tac. 
Ann. iv. 16, in potestate viri; and Serv. on Virg. u^n. iv. 103, 
coemptione facta mulier in potestatem viri cedit. And inversely 
manus is used in a wider sense for potestas by Gell, xviii. 6. Yet 
potestas and manus are entirely diiferent, Gai. i. 109 ; and as the 
mancipio datus is only in loco servi and not servus, so the wife is 
but ßlicB loco, Gai. i. 111. The husband had the potestas of 
punishment and correction not merely in the marriage with manus, 
but in each kind of marriage, so the right is not a consequence of 
the manus. But in this he was limited by the ancient family . 
tribunal, and he could decide nothing without the consent of his 
own and his wife's cognati. Probably in the marriage with manus 
the cognati of the husband, in that without manus those of the 
wife, were principally necessary, as in the latter case she still re- 
mained in the power of her father. Dionys. ii. 25 : ol cvyyevug fiera 
Tov ävdpoQ IdiKaZov. Tac. Ann. xiii. 32, Is (Plautius) 2^^'isco itisti- 
tuto jJropinquis coram de capite famaque conjugis cognovit. Gell. x. 
23 ; Suet. Tih. 35 ; Val. Max. ii. 9, 2. The husband never decided 
by himself, except when he discovered his wife in adultery, and 
then he had liberty to put the guilty one to death. Gell. x. 23. 
It is not improbable that the wife might be given mancipio, in 
order, for instance, to indemnify by her labour for the injuries she 
had caused, noxm dare. 

Many learned treatises have appeared in Germany, tracing the 
difference between marriage with and without manus, both amongst 
patricians and plebeians, and showing that amongst the former no 
marriage was celebrated without, nor amongst the latter with, until 
by degrees the manus was introduced amongst the plebeians also. 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND ROMA^ MARRIAGE. 157 

But it is not to be supposed that variations in an institution so 
deeply rooted in the life of a nation, could rest on rank and position, 
and not rather on differences of race, since it is impossible that a 
people, originally one and the same, could have had two such hete- 
rogeneous views respecting marriage. The plebeians and patri- 
cians were not of a different race — at least not the Latin and 
Sabine members of each class— but of different rank, and with 
different political privileges. In the rights of family they were 
equal, and the marriage with manus was, like the patria potestas, 
an original and fundamental right of all Roman citizens. 

In order to contract this marriage with manus particular cere- 
monies were necessary, which did not occur in that without it. The 
marriage was valid only through the consensus of both parties ; i. e. 
it resulted from the acquiescence contracted on either side to cohabit 
ad individuam vitce eonsuetudinem and liherorum qucej-endormn causa, 
without any proper celebration of wedding solemnities being pre- 
scribed. Quinct. Decl. 247: Finga7nus enim, nuptias quidemfecisse 
nullas, coisse autem liberorum qucerendorwn gratia, non tarnen uxw 
non erit, qnamvis nuptiis non sit collocata. If the marriage were 
effected with manus, the special formalities must, as a matter of 
course, follow on the consensus of the parties, with which they 
were either allied, or which came afterwards. These forms, which 
differed very much from each other, were called confarreatio, 
coemptio and usus. Gai. i. 109, 110, Olim itaque trihus modis in 
manum conveniehant : usu, farreo, coemptio7ie. Serv. on Vi?'g. Georg. 
i. 31 ; Boeth, Comtn. Tap. ii. p. 299. The first rested on a religious 
basis ; both the others on civil law, though in different ways ; for 
whilst in the coemptio a contract, in the usus a sort of prescription, 
brought the woman m manum mariti. In the usus, marriage and 
manus took place at the same time, i. e. the celebration of the mar- 
riage and manus was included in one and the same act : not so the co- 
emptio, from which not marriage, but only manus proceeded ; so that 
the marriage must have either immediately preceded, or followed it. 
By virtue of its sacramental character (Itpol yafxoi) the confarreatio 
effected an inviolable and sacred union. This intimate association 
of the parties married, in both earthly and sacred relations, was 
only possible by the entrance of the wife into the family of the 
husband. This was effected by the manus, which must necessarily 
be connected with the marriage. The forms of divorce show the 
correctness of this hypothesis, for diffarreatio was an actual divorce 
and loosing of the manus, whilst remancipatio dissolved only the 
manus, not the marriage. 

The confarreatio was of Sabine, not, as is commonly believed, 



158 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MARRIAGE. [Excüesüs I. 

of Etruscan origin, for in tlie Etruscan marriage, according to Varro, 
a pig — in the confarreatio a sheep — was slaughtered ; the two are 
therefore quite different. On the other hand, in the Sabine marriage 
fire and water were used, Dionys. ii. 30; which elements in the 
confarreatio could not he done without : Serv. ad Virg. JEn. iv. 
103. A religious yiew of marriage also js most consistent with the 
deyout character of the Sabines, whose influence on the formation 
of the most ancient ciyil relations of the Romans is undoubted. 
This form of Roman marriage is commonly considered the oldest. 
Dionys. ii. 25, says : IkICKqw di tovq Upovg ol TraXaiol yafiovg 'FcjjxaiKy 
TTpoaijyopia TrepiXa fxßduovTeg (pappaicia, stti Ti]Q Kon^coviag tov (poppoc, o 
KaXovfitv npsTg liäv, an explanation which refers to the laws already 
giyen by Romulus : ywaXKa yape-rjv Kara vöfiovg Upovg avviXQoixjaif 
ävdpi Koivojvov ä—avTu>v slvai XPVH-"'^^ t^ ^ai 'upCJv. This does not, 
however, imply that the confarreatio was originally the only kind 
of marriage, but the law assigns only to this sort of marriage the 
commimio bononmi et sacrorum. The second form, which probably 
had its origin among the Latins — and was originally perhaps a real 
purchase of the wife by the husband — afterwards became a regular 
form of marriage under the name coemptio. In early times a less 
strict form of marriage had existed, which was probably introduced 
into Rome by the Etruscans (as that nation did not recognize the 
father's power oyer the family), or resulted from the marriages with 
foreigners and clients. For such marriages the civil right usus was 
afterwards introduced, in order that they should not be altogether 
free from the stringent consequences of the Roman marriage. That 
other forms besides the confarreatio existed even in the oldest times, 
appears from the story of the rape of the Sabines, since those mar- 
riages could scarcely come altogether under that head. To this 
difference Dionys. refers when he says, ii. 30, that the marriages 
with the ravished women will be consecrated Kara rovg irarpiovg 
tt<äaTt]g tQianovg. Against the antiquity of the confarreatio (under 
Romulus) it has been stated, that it was performed by the Fojitifex 
Maximus, and that the pontißces were first instituted by Numa. The 
whole mystical religious ceremonial agrees certainly mol*e with the 
institutions of Numa, but it might have previously existed as a form 
of marriage on a religious basis, and may have been made still 
more religious by Numa. 

Confarreatio was always a privilege of the patricians, and even 
after the lex Canuleia gave the plebeians connubium with them, it 
could not be adopted either in mixed marriages or amongst the ple- 
beians. Cicero, j^ro Flucco, 34: O peritum juris hominem! Quid? ah 
ingenuis midiei'ibus hereditates lege non ve?iiunt f In manum, inquit, 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. 159 

convenerat. Nunc audio, sed qucero, usu an coemptione f Because 
Cicero does not name confarreatio as the third means by which the 
woman could come in manum, many have concluded that this was 
no form of marriage, hut only a religious ceremony, which ac- 
companied the legal act of coemptio. Such a conclusion is, however, 
unnecessary, because there could be no doubt about a confarreatio 
having taken place, which was celebrated by the rex sacj^ormn 
(Serv. on Virg. Georg, i. 31), even by the pontifex maximus and 
ßaynen dialis. Cicero could not mention confarreatio, because the 
husband of Valeria, who inherited the property of Flaccus, was of 
plebeian extraction. If this explanation be not accepted, we must 
account for the omission of the confarreatio, by suggesting that in 
the time of Cicero it was quite out of use in ordinary life, and was 
restricted to the marriage of the priests. 

The entire ceremony of confarreatio, which was closely con- 
nected with the jUS auspicm-um and the sacra gentilicia, did not 
beiit a plebeian or mixed marriage, and in the Twelve Tables it 
was expressly stated as the ground of connubium being refused 
(the connubium was not however" first forbidden by them, but had 
never taken place, of. Dionys. i. 60), quod nemo pleheius auspicta 
liaheret, ideoque decemviros connuhiuni diremisse, ne incerta prole au- 
spicia turharentur, Liv. vi. 6 ; cf. vi. 41 ; x. 8. With the increasing 
levity of the women, marriage with the inconvenient conventio in 
manum became more rare, and the form of confarreatio very soon 
disappeared in common life (on account of the cereniotiice diffieid- 
tates, Tac), so that persons were often wanting for the patrician 
priesthood. Tac. Ann. iv. 16: Nam patricio8 confarreatis parenti- 
bus genitos tres simul nominari, ex quibus unus legeretur {ßamen 
dialis), vetusto more ; neqiie adesse, ut olim, earn copiam, omissa con- 
farreandi adsuetudine ant inter paucos retenta. This form was con- 
fined to the marriage of priests, as Gai. i. 102 remarks of his own 
time; andBoethius, Comtn. Top., says, sed confarreatio solis pontiß- 
cibus conveniebat. 

The marriage with confarreatio was never celebrated without 
splendid nuptials (mqjiice) ,\7h.ich. was not the case in the other forms 
of marriage. Respecting confarreatio in general, Gai. says, i. 112: 
farreo in manum conveniunt per quoddam genus sacrißcii, in quofar- 
reus panis adhibetur, unde etiam confarreatio dicitur. Sed complura 
preterea hujus juris ordinandi gratia cum, certis et solennibus verbis 
prcesentibus decern tesiibus aguntur etßunt. Ulp. ix. 1 -, Plin. H. N. 
xviii. 6 : Quin et in sacris nihil religiosus confarreatimiis vincido erat, 
novceque nuptce farreum proiferebant. Serv. in Virg. Georg, i. 31. 
Farre (nuptise fiebant) cum per Pontißcem Maximum et dialem 



160 THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus T. 

fMminem per f rug es et molam salsam conjungehantur, uncle confar- 
reatio aj^^jellabatur, ex quibus nuptiis patrimi et matrimi nascehantur. 
Little is known of the remaining ceremonies ; but we must dis- 
tinguish those general wedding-usages, which depended on the 
caprice of each particular couple, from that which was peculiar 
and necessary to the confarreatio. 

The ceremonious fetching of the bride from her paternal house 
(Fest, ex gremio matris) to that of the bridegroom, called deduetio 
(the expression uxorem ducere is only an abridgment of domimi 
uxoretJi ducere, or deducere, Plaut. Aul. ii. 1, 88 : Trin. v. 2, 64), took 
place in all kinds of marriages, without, however, being necessary. 
This ceremony regularly occurred iu the evening (CatulL Ixii. 1) 
under the protection of Juno Domiduca, or Iterduca (Aug. Civ. D. vi. 
9), by torchlight, and accompanied by relations and friends, amongst 
whom the jiroiiubce dared not fail. These women, who conducted 
the bride to the thcdcmius nuptialis, were permitted to have been only 
once married. Varro on Virg. JEn. iv. 166 ; Fest, and Paul. Diac. 
p. 242 ; Tertull. Exhort. Cast. 13 ; Isidor. ix. 8. In the confarreatio 
the deduetio had an especially religious character, on account of 
the escort of pueri patrimi et matrimi, whom we find, however, in 
the time of the emperors in other marriages also, when many rites 
of confarreatio had passed over mto the other forms of celebrating 
marriage. Fest. 245 : Patrimi et matrimi piieri 2:)rcetextati tres nuhen- 
tem deducunt ; unus qui facem prmferi, ex spina alba, quia noctu 
habebant, duo qui tenent nubentem. — Sjnna alba, äicavöa Xsvki}, Cnicus 
Acarna, Linn. Lady's thistle had also a mysterious .signification, 
e.g.. as assistance against the strigce, Ovid. Fast. vi. 129, 165; Plin. 
H. N. xvi. 18, 30, sjnna nuptiarum facibus auspicatissima. Besides 
these three, another accompanied them called puer Camillus, who 
was a servant of the flamen (Macrob. Sat. xiv. 8 : Romani quoque 
jmeros et puellas nobiles etinvestes Camillos et Camillas appellant, ßa- 
minicarum etßa?ninum jjrceministros ; Paul. Diac. 43, describes Ca- 
millus as simply ^wer ingenuus, i. e. patrician, Dionys. ii. 22 : perhaps 
the CamelcB virgines are the same in Paul. 63), and in a particular 
basket, called cumerus, carried the spinning apparatus of the bride. 
Varro, i. ; vii. 34 : Itaque dicitur nuptiis Camillus qui cumerimi feH, 
in quo quid sit in ministerio plerique extrinsecus nectunt. Paul. Diac. 
63 : Cumeram vocabant antiqui vos quoddam, quod opertum in nup- 
tiis ferebant, in quo erant nubentis utensilia, quod et Camillum 
dicebant eo quod sacrorum tninistrum KäcfnXov appellabant. What 
is to be understood by utensilia, we see in Plut. Qu. Rom. 31 : 
AvTT) (the bride) tiofspsi fxev ifkaKciTr^v kuI Tt]v arpuKTov, ip'n^ ok 
rrjv Qvpav TrtpiarecpH rov avdpoQ', and Plin. H. N, viii. 48, 74 : Lide 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. 131 

factum, ut nuhentes virgines cotmnittaretur colus comta et /usus cum 
stamine. 

As amongst the Greeks tlie conducting home of the bride took 
place whilst the Hymengeus was being sung, so the deductio of the 
Koman bride was, in accordance with an old custom, accompanied 
by the singing of a celebrated song thalassio and playing on the 
flute. See nuptiales tihice in Auct. ad. Her. iv. 33; and Plaut. Cas. 
iv. 3, 1: 

Age tibicen : dum illam educant hue novam nuptam foras, 
Suavi cantu concelebra omnem hanc plateam hjTneneseo. 
See also Mart, i. 36, 42; Plut. Rom. 15, Pomp. 4; Euseb. Chron. 27. 
Some derive the thalassio from the rape of the Sabines, and give the 
most wonderful explanations of it. Liv. i. 4 ; Dionys. ii. 30 ; Plut. 
Qu. Rom. 81. This rite was, however, not peculiar to the confar- 
reatio, but common to all marriages. The same is true of another 
old custom, that the bride, having arrived at the house of the bride- 
groom festively adorned to receive her (Juv. vi. 79, 227), orna- 
mented the doorposts with lanece vittcB, and anointed them with 
oleum. Plin. xxviii. 9, 37 ; Lucan. ii. 355, &c. Equally general was 
the custom, which was referred by the Romans to the rape of the 
Sabines, of carrying the bride over the threshold. Pljit. Qu. Rom. 
29 : Ala Ti Hiv yafxovukvrjv ovk kihaiv avrrjv virepßiivai rov oiidov rijg 
olK'ia£,aX\' vTrepaipovaiv ol TrpoTTSfXTTovTeg', Trorepov orLraQ Trpwrat; yvvai- 
Kag apiraaavTiQ o'vTiog iiar]viyKav ; Varro, on Virg. Eel. xiii. 29, other- 
wise explains it. But the true explanation doubtless is, that they 
wished to avoid the bad omen, which it would have been considered, 
if the bride on entering had accidentally stumbled vdth her foot 
on the threshold. Plaut. Cas. iv. 4, 1 : Sensim super attolle limeii 
pedes, nova nupta, sospes iter incipe hoc, ut vivo tuo seinpei' sis super- . 
sfes. Catull. Ixi. 166 : Transfei' omine cum bono li7nen aureolos pedes 
rasilemque suhiforem. Whether the bride was after this carrying 
across obliged first to step on a sheepskin, as has been thought 
from Plut. Qu. Rom. 81, rrfv vvfxiptjt^ tiaäyovrtQ vukoq VTroarpujvvvovaiVj 
is uncertain, as these words may be understood as applying to the 
skin spread over the seat of the bridal pair. Varro's account, Non. 
xii. 50, is obscure : Nuhetites veteri lege Romana asses tres ad mari- 
tu/m venientes solera pervehere, atque unum quem in manu tenei'ent 
tanquam emendi causa marito dare, alium quem in pede haherent in 
foco Larum familiarum ponei'e, teHium quem in sacciperione con~ 
didissent compito vicinali solere resonare. 

The chief solemnity of the confarreatio occurred in the house 
of the bridegroom, but we are not acquainted with the certa et 
solemnia verba, of which Gains speaks. First, the bride saluted the 

M 



162 THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus I. 

bridegroom, who approached her with the mystical form : Uhi tu 
Cams ego Caia, which was also used in the coemptio. Quinct. List. i. 
7, 28, says : Quia tain Caias esse vocitatas, quam Caios, etiam ex tmpti- 
alihus sacris apparet, and from this we might suppose that this form 
belonged only to religious marriages, but nuptialia sacra are merely 
solemn marriage ceremonies generally, without the force of con- 
farreatio. Plut. Qu. Rom. 30 : Aiä ri Tr)v vvjjL<pr]v dadyov-eg \syfiu 
KtXevovaiv "Ottov (tv Td'ioc, syd) Td'ia. But Cicero, pro Mur. 12, sup- 
plies the direct proof of the use of this form in the coemptio, where 
he says : Quia in alicujus lihris exempli causa id nomen invenei'ant, 
putarunt, otnnes mulieres, quce coemptionem facer ent, Caias vocari. In 
less binding marriages, this formula, of which Plutarch gives the fol- 
lowing explanation, was not used : ottov av Kvpiog ical oiKodeaTroTijc, Kai 
iyd) Kvpia icai oiicooeaTroiva. This could only be said in strict marriage. 
The bridegroom doubtless replied to this address of the bride 
in an equally measured symbolical form, which, however, has not 
been preserved. The general notion, that he gave to her a key or 
the key of the house, does not seem to be correct, Paul. Diac. 
who has been referred to, says in fact something entirely different, 
p. 56 : Clavim consuetudo erat midierihus donare oh signißcandam 
partus facilitatem. It was a symbolical gift, which signified something 
besides the house-government, but whether the bridegroom gave 
it, and on the wedding-day, he does not inform us. It is more certain 
that the bridegroom received the bride with water and fire, and 
that he presented these two elements to her touch, — a very signi- 
ficant ceremony, although we are without any accurate information 
about it, at least as regards the fire. Varro, in a fragment on 
Virg. ^n. iv. 104, says: Aqua et igni mariti uxores accipiebant. 
TJnde et hodie faces prcelucent et aqua petita de puro fönte per puerum 
felidssimum vel puellam, quce interest nuptiis, de qua solehant 
nubentihus pedes lavari. He seems to think that the symbolical 
torch may have been a remnant of the old times, and the ceremony 
of fire another. Another passage confiiTus this : Igitur duplex 
causa nascendi ignis et aqua : ideo ea nuptiis in limine adhihentur. 
Ovid, Fast. iv. 792, his {aqua et igne) novaßt conjux. Propert. iv. 3, 
13; Stat. Silv. i. 2, 4; Plut. Qu. Rom. 1 : Ata ri Hiv yafiovfxkvijv 
uTTTtaQai TTvpoQKoi v^aroQ KsKevovdi', Hence the form, aqua et igni ac- 
cipit, Scaev. Dig. xxiv. 1, 66. Paul. Diac. 2: Aqua et igni tarn interdict 
solet damnatis, quam accipiuntur nuptce, videlicet quia hcsc duce res 
Immanam vitam maxime continent. This is clearly the right mean- 
ing of this symbol, which is also explained by Serv. on Virg. JEn. 
xii. 119, and iv. 103; Lactant. de Orig. JError.; Isidor. v. 27. Paul. 
Diac. 87: Factm in nuptiis in honorem Ccsreris prceferebant ; aqua 



Scene L] TPIE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. 163 

aspergehatur nova nupta, sive vt casta puraque ad virum venirei, sive 
ut ignem atque aquam cum viro communicaret. The ceremony of 
water and fire always continued in the confarreatio : in other forms 
of marriage that of the torch, by the lig-ht of which the hride was 
brought to the bridegroom's house (faces nuptiales). Ovid. Fast. ii. 
558; Lucan. ii. 356 ; CatuU. Ixi. ) Cic. pro Clu.Q; Tac. Ann. i. 37, 
&c. Fest. 289 : Bapi solet fax, qua prcelucente nova nupta deducta 
est, ah ictrisque amicis, ne aut uxor earn sub lecto viri ea node ponat, 
aut vir in sepulchro comhurendam curet, quo utroque mors propinqua 
alterius utrius captari putetur . 

Next followed the religious solemnities under the direction of 
the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamen Dialis, in the presence of 
ten witnesses, who represented as many curii or gentes. The 
auspices were also taken, without which, even in later times, mar- 
riages in general were not concluded. Cic. de Div. i. 16 : Nihil fere 
quondam majoris rei, nisi auspicato, ne privatim quidem gerebatur, 
quod etiam nunc nvptiarum auspices declarant^ qui re omissa nomen 
tantum tenent. So too Yal. Max. ii. 1, 1 : Quo ex more nuptiis etiam- 
num auspices interponuntur . Qui quamvis auspicia petere desierint, 
ipso tarnen nomine veteris consuetudinis vestigia usurpant. See also 
Plaut. Cas. prol. 86 ; Cic. pro Clu. 5 ; Juv. x. 335 ; Lucan. ii. 371 ; 
Symm. Fp. vi. 3; and Serv. on Virg. ^n. iv. 374, who relates 
that thunder interrupted the ceremony. We may conclude, from 
the account of the marriage ceremonies between Messalina and 
Silius, that the auspices had certain forms of words to pro- 
nounce : at the confarreatio this was certainly the case. Tac. Amu 
xi. 27 : Haud sum ignarus, fabulosum visum iri — consulem desig- 
natum (Silium) cum uxore principis predicta die, adhibitis qui 
obsignarenty velut suscipiendorum liberonwi causa convenisse atque 
illam audisse auspicum verba, subiisse, sacrificasse apud deos, etc. 
Suet. Claud. 26, dote inter auspices consignata, from which we see 
that the auspices effected the dotis constitutio. Tac. i. 37, describes 
a similar case. The whole of the ceremony is unfortunately not 
known to us, but two acts of it are certain, viz., first, the joint 
eating of bread by the newly married, from which the whole form 
received its name, as Dionys. ii. 25 relates, to drj koivojvovq rije 
UpojTO.T'nQ T£ Kal 7Tpwrf}g Tpocprjjg jivkaQai yvvaiKaQ avSpctm, kuI IttI 
■jToWjj avviXOelv rvxy-, ^riv fiiv £7rt(c\jj<Tiv rrjg Koivojviag tov (papphg nx^v, 
etc. ; secondly, the joining together of hands, at the confarreatio, 
probably by the priest, which the sarcophagi, and wall-paintings 
representing marriage, show. This custom was common to all 
marriages. There was also another ceremony, confined to the 
confarreatio, of which Serv. on Virg. yEn. iv. 37, gives an accoimt: 

M 2 



164 THE WOMETS' AND KOMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus I. 

Mos apud veteres futt Flamini et Flaminiccs, ut per fai'reationem in 
nuptiis convenirent, sellas dims jugatas ovili pelle superinjecta po)ii 
ejus ovis, qucB hostia fuisset, et ibi nuhentes velatis capitihus in confar- 
reatione Flamen et Flaminica residerent. The newly married couple 
then sat for a time, perhaps during the remainder of the ceremony, 
on two chairs standing near to each other and covered by the same 
skin, signifying, that although the man and woman occupied two 
different parts of the house, that they were nevertheless firmly 
bound by one common bond. The sheepskin afterwards served 
also as a cervical, as the Kw^ia amongst the Greeks filled the place 
of cushions on the couches. It is an error to derive conjugium and 
conjugare from these sellis jugatis, and equally so to suppose that 
the yoke was placed upon the pair, although Servius says propter 
jugum, quod imponehatur matrimonio conjungendis. 

At the celebration of the wedding a contract of marriage {tahulce 
nuptiales, matrimoniales, dotales) concerning the dos was entered 
into, and sealed by those present as witnesses, with the assistance 
of the auspices. These contracts were not known in the earlier 
periods, and were also unnecessary in the marriage with manus, 
but the more common the form without manus became, the more 
was the want of such agreements felt. On many monuments of 
art we see these tabulae in the hand of the bridegroom. To this 
custom, Suet. Claud. 26, refers : dote inter auspices consignata j and 
more clearly, Juv. ii. 119 : 

Signatse tabulse, dictum ! Feliciter, ingens 
Ccena sedet, gremio jacuifc nova nupta mariti. 
Also ii. 200 ; ix. 75 ; Tac. Ann. xi. 30. These tabulae however were 
not absolutely necessary, nor were they suflicient to compel the 
completion of the marriage. Papin. Dig. xxxix. 5, 31 ; and Quinct. 
Inst. V. 11, 32. Nihil obstat, quo minus justum matrimonium sit mente 
coeuntium, etiamsi tahulce signatce non fuerint. Nihil enim pr oder it 
signasse tabulas, si mentem matrimonii nonfuisse constahit. 

What is related as to the dress of the bride refers to all kinds 
of marriage. She wore a white tunica recta or regilla, and veil 
and hair-net of bright yellow. Fest, 36 : RegilUs, timicis albis, et 
reticulis luteis (^iceKpv(pa\oc) utrisque rectis, textis susum versum a 
stantibus pridie nuptiarum diem virgines indutcB cubitum ibant ominis 
causa, wt etiam in togis virilibus dandis observari solet. We must not 
limit the use of the regilla to the day before the wedding : Plin. 
Jf. N, viii. 48, 74. Fa prima texuit rectam tunicam, quales cum toga 
pura tirones induuntur novcsque 7iupt(S. The derivation of regilla, 
and the quantity of the first syllable, are doubtful. It is commonly 
derived from the same root as recta, as if diminutive. Accordin-n- 



Scene I. ] THE WOMEX AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. 165 

to Plant. Epid. ii. 2, 89, it comes from regina, as lie places it in 
opposition to mendicula. Quid erat indicta ? an regillam indiculam 
an mendiculam impluviatam? ut istce faciunt vestimenfis nomina. 
Isidor. xix. 25^ and Non. xiv. 13, gives the same etymology. Plaut. 
l)esides says regillam tuniculam. The 7'egilla and (tunica^ recta differ 
from others chiefly in the way in which they were woven, on a tela^ 
the stamen of which was not drawn horizontally, but vertically, and 
on which they wove upwards from below, arw v(paiv£iv. Fest. 277 : 
Rectce appelkmtur vestimenta virilia, quce patres liheris suis conßcienda 
curant anitnis causa, ita usurpata quod a stantibus et in aUitudinem 
texuntur. This regilla was fastened by a woollen girdle (thence 
Juno Cinocia gen.), which was tied in a Hercules' knot. Paul. 
Diac. 63 : Cingulo nova nupta prcecingehatur,* quod vir in lecto sol- 
vebat, factum ex lana ovis. Hunc Herculaneo modo vinctum vir 
solvit ominis gratia, ut sic ipse felix sit in suscipiendis liheris, ut fuit 
Hei'cules, qui septuaginta liberos reliquit. 

The veil, oißamineum, which the bride wore at the wedding, 
was yellow. Paul. 89 : Flammeo amicitur nubens ominis boni causa, 
quod eo assidue utebatur ßamhiica, i.^.ßaminis uxor, cui non licebat 
facere divortium. It is more correct to say that the flaminica and 
the bride wore this colour because it was of good import. Plin. 
H. N. xxi. : Lidei (coloris) video honorem antiquissimum in nuptialtbus 
ßammeis totum feminis concessum. Cf. Petron. 26 ; Juv. vi. 224 ; 
Schol. Suet. Ner. 28 ; Tac. Ann. xv. 37 ; Lucau. ii. 261 ; Catull. and 
Martial frequently. It has been affirmed from Seneca, Hippol. 322, 
that the shoes {socci) were also yellow, but the passage refers not 
to a bride's clothing, but to the dress of Hercules, as a woman in 
the presence of Omphale, Catull. however, Ixi. 10, makes Hyme- 
naeus wear yellow shoes, and in the Aldobrandinian marriage the 
bride has them. They are now frequently found in paintings at 
Herculaneum and Pompeii. — The peculiar dressing of the hair is 
quite certain. Fest. 339 : Senis ct'inibus (three locks on each side, 
as the oldest statues show) nubentes ornantur, quod is ornatus vetus- 
tissimus fuit ; quidam, quod eo vestales virgines ornentur. In this 
the common instruments were not used, but the symbolical hasta 
ccelibaris, for which Paul. Diac. h. v. 62, gives very odd and con- 
tradictory reasons. Plut. Qu. Rom. 86 j- Ovid. Fast. ii. 559. 

After the confarreatio was ended — as in all other marriages — a 
banquet followed (ccena nuptialis, Plaut. Cure. v. 2, 60 ; epulce 
geniales, Claud. Rapt. Pros. ii. 327, at which five wax-lights were 
burned, Plut. Qu. Rom. 2), and when that wa 5 concluded, nuts (nux 
Juglans) were distributed. Something similar {KaraxvoiiaTo) took 
place at the marriage of the Greeks j see Becker's Charicles, 



166 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MAREIAGE. [Excursus I. 

translated by Metcalfe, p, 356. Serv. on Virg. Eel. yiii. 30 ; 
Catull. Ixi. 128 ', Plin. H. N. xv. 22, 24. 

At length tlie pronuhcB led the bride to tbe lectus genialis (collo- 
care in lecto, Donat. on Ter. Eur. iii. 5, 45 ; Paul. Diac. s. v. ge)iialis, 
94; Claud. Rapt. Pros. ii. 361). Before the door they sang hyme- 
neal and indecent songs (Fescennma) Claud. Eesc. iv. 30 : — 

Ducant perrigiles carmina tibiae, 

Permissisqiie jocis turba licentior 

Exsultet tetricis libera legibus. 
The lectus genialis was carried into the atrium on the day of the 
wedding, perhaps by the mother, or the relatives, of the bride ; but 
in later days this became merely symbolical. Cic. pro Clu. 5 : 
Lectum ilium genialem, quem hiennio anteßlicB suce nuhenti straverat, 
in eadem domo sibi 07'nari et ste?'ni expulsa atque exturhata filia juhet : 
nuhet genero sacrus. Paul. v. genialis, 94 : Gen. lectus, qui nuptiis ster- 
nitur in honorem genii. Arnob. adv. Gen. ii. 67 : Cum in tnatrimonia 
convenitis, toga stetmitis lectulos et maritorum genios advocatis. Hor. 
Ep. i, 1, 87, lectus genialis in aula est, meaning that a person is mar- 
ried. We know no more about this custom, but from some passages 
it would seem that it occurred only in the marriage with manus. 
For instance, Arnob. iv. 20, says, Usu, farre, coemptione, genialis 
lectuli sacramenta condicunt, but these words are not to be taken so 
strictly, any more than the in matrimonia convenire previously 
quoted. It is natural that when the binding forms of marriage 
went out of use, many peculiar customs were retained, as the sacri- 
fice with the assistance of t e priest, and the Camillas and Camilla. 
The lectus genialis, or adversus, remained in its place as long as the 
woman continued in marriage ; or even until the man married again. 
The sterner e then took place again ; Prop. iv. 11, 85 : — 
Seu tarnen adversuin mutarit janua lectum 
Sederit, et nostro cauta noverca toro. 
The lectus is called adversus, because it stood in the atrium opp:site 
):he janua. 

On the following morning the young wife began her manage- 
ment of the house by a sacrifice at the altar of her husband : 
Macrob. Sat. i. 18 ; Plut. Qu. Rom. 2. On the same day an after- 
ceremony of the marriage, called repo^/a, took place in the men's 
apartments. Fest. p. 281 : Repotia post/tidie nuptias apud novum 
maritum coenatur, quia quasi reßcitur potatio. Porphyr, on Hor. Sat. 
ii. 2, 60, Dies post nuptias. On the contraiy, Donat. and Acron. in- 
terpret it difierently : Repotia dicuntur septimus dies, quo nova solet 
nupta redire ad parentes suos, the first visit therefore to the parental 
house. Auson. Epist. ix. 50, says indefinitely, Conjiigioque dapes 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MARRIAGE. 167 

aut sacra repotia patrum, which may be taken either in the sense of 
Donat. and Acron., or as a celebration after the birth of a child. 

Lastly, we must notice, that the choice of the day for the wed- 
ding was not a matter of indifference. They avoided as unlucky 
the Calends, Nones, and Ides, and the day following them : Macrob. 
Sat. i. 15, 16 ; Paul. Diac. 179 ; Gell. v. 17 ; Varr. L. L. vi. 29 ; 
Ovid. Fast. \. 67 ; Plut. Qucest. Rom. 25 ; likewise the Feriae, Plut. 
Qucest. Horn. 25. To this rule the day after the Ides of June formed 
an exception. The month was also carefully selected, and May 
was not lightly chosen : Plut. Qucest. Rom. 85 ; Ovid. Fast. v. 487. 
So, too, the first half of June was avoided, whilst the second was 
chosen : Ovid. Fast. vi. 221. 

The second form which effected conventio in manum (but not 
marriage) was the coemptio. This form was adopted in order to 
bring about manus without marriage ; therefore in such cases the 
formless contract of marriage, through consensus or domum duetto, 
must have preceded. The ceremonies were those just described 
(viz. deductio with Thalassio, lifting over the threshold, the saluta- 
tion with Caius and Caia, the presence of the auspices, the joining 
of hands, the dress of the bride ; incidents and external forms, which 
depended on the taste and the means of those about to be married) ; 
but in place of a religious marriage, a simple civil contract was en- 
tered into, which merely determined the proportion of dependence 
of the young woman. It was a symbolical sale, per ces et lihram,patre 
vel tutoribus auetoi'ibus. Gai. i. 113 : Coemptione in manum conveniunt 
per mancipationem, i.e. per quandam imaginariam venditionem, adhi- 
bitis non minus qua?n quinque testibus, civibus Romanis piiberibus, item 
libripende prceter mulierem eumque, cujus in manum convenit. Serv. on 
Virg. JEn. iv. 103 : Coemptio enim est, ubi libra atque ces adhibetur, et 
mulier atque vir in se quasi emptionetJi faciunt. Boethius on Cic. Top. 
3, p. 299 : QucB in manum per coemptionem convenerant, ece matres 
favfi. vocabantur ; quce vero usu vel farreo, minime. Coemptio vero 
certis solemnitatibus peragebatur et sese in coemendo invicem interro- 
gabant (i.e. in coemptio they mutually asked each other) ; vir ita ; 
an mulier sibi materfamilias esse vellet : ilia respondebat, velle. Itaque 
mulier viri conveniebat in manum et vocabantur hce nuptice per coemp" 
tionem, et erat mulier materfamilias viro locoßlicB. Quam solemni- 
tatem in suis institutis Ulpianus exponit. Boethius is wrong in con- 
fining confarreatio to the marriage of priests ; in believing that the 
woman could come in manum only by coemptio ; and in reckoning 
as materfamilias only her who coemptione convenit. The last error 
is easily cleared up when we reflect that in the time of Boethius 
this form no longer existed, and that he knew it only by tradition ; 



168 THE WO^klEN AND EOMAN MAERIAGE. [Excursus I. 

that confarreatio had long been used only for tlie marriage of 
priests, and that usus no longer led to manus. Gai. i. 113. As at 
coemptio this form was especially used, Visne mihi esse materfa- 
milias ? he thought that only such women were called by that name. 
But we get the correct idea from Cic. Top. 3 : Genus enim est uxor ; 
ejus duce formce : una matrumfamilias, earum^ quce in manum conve- 
nerunt (usu, farreo, coemptione) : altera eartim, quce tantummodo 
uxor es hahentur (quse in manum non convenerunt). Gell, xviii. 6, 
also explains : Matremfamilias appellatam ' esse earn solam, quce in 
mariti manu mancipioque esset. The term matrona is only a more 
comprehensive designation for every decent woman. C\c. pro Ccel. 
13 : Petulantes facimus, si matremfamilias secus, quam matronanmi 
sanctitas postidat, nomina7mis. Every materfamilias is also a ma- 
trona, hut not the reverse. 

The third form by which a woman came in manum was the usus 
or prescription. When she had entered into a free marriage only, but 
remained a whole year with the man without having been absent 
three days from his house, that constituted manus. Gai. i. Ill : TJs^i 
in matium conveniehat, quce anno continuo nupta perseverabat, nam 
velut annua possessione usu capicbatur, in familiam viri transibat, 
ßliceque locum obtinebat. Itaque lege XII. Tabularum cautum erat, 
si qua nollet eo modo in manum mariti convenire, ut quotannis tri- 
noctio abesset atque ita usum cujuscunque anni interrumperet. This 
period did not consist of three days, or thrice twenty-four hours, 
but three whole nights following each other, as is proved by the 
decision of Gell. iii. 2, and Macrob. Sat. i. 3, that the woman had not 
committed a valid usurpatio trinoctii quce Kalendis Januariis apud 
virum causa matrimmiii esse coepisset, et ante diem iv. Kal. Jan. se- 
quentes usurpatum isset (i.e. who left her husband's house in order 
to interrupt the usucapio). Non enim posse impleri trinoctium, quod 
abesse a viro usurpandi causa ex XII. Tabulis deberetj quoniam tertice 
noctis posteriores sex horce alterius anniessent, quiinciperet ex Kalendis. 

Besides these stricter forms of marriage, by which the woman 
came in manum mancipiumque mariti, there existed a less binding 
one, in which both parties stood in an equal position towards each 
other, viz. matrimonium justum, without conventio in manum. The 
woman remained in potestate patris aut tutoris, and retained the 
free disposition of her property. Such are the women whom 
Cicero describes as uxores tantummodo, in opposition to the mater- 
familias. So Gell, xviii. 6, in matrimonium tantum convenire, in 
opposition to in manum convenire. This form was very early intro- 
duced into Rome by the Peregrini, or by the Etruscans, who emi- 
grated to Rome, where it was in time acknowledged as a lawful 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MARRIAGE. 169 

marriage, provided that tlie conditions, as equality of position and 
citizensliip, were the same on "both, sides. This free marriage be- 
came more binding after living together for one unbroken year, 
but even if the usurpatio trinodii occurred, the free marriage still 
continued. In later times, when the conventio in manum was found 
inconvenient, they returned to this form of marriage, so that under 
the middle emperors no other existed, with the exception of the 
confarreatio for the priests. The marriage ceremonies, which were 
the same both with and without manua, have already been described. 

Many sarcophagi illustrate the Roman marriage ceremonies, but 
they chiefly belong to more recent times, in which marriage with- 
out manus nearly always occurred. We find, however, in all of 
them, that the bride and bridegroom stretch forth their hands, 
being introduced to each other by Juno Pronuba ; and that the 
preparation of sacrifices by the priests and the Camilli, and the 
Hymenseus, are not omitted. 

The Cojicuhinatus was merely a sexual living together of two 
persons who had no connubium. This was of two kinds : first, in 
a narrower and strictly legal sense, when a civis, unmarried, wished 
to live with one not equal to him in position, as o. peregrina, liherta^ 
serva, or humilis, ahjecta fmnina, without considering her as his 
wife (to a certain extent looked upon as a left-handed marriage, 
incequale conjugium^ or licita consuetudo). Secondly, in a wider and 
not legal sense, when a married man lived with a mistress besides 
his wife, or unmarried with two mistresses. The first does not 
appear to have been considered criminal, or even contrary to 
decency, for we find inscriptions on graves to the ' beloved concu- 
bine ;' the second was always condemned, and fell under the head 
of stuprum, particularly if the concubine belonged to the honeste 
viventes. The woman who lived with a married man was called 
pellex. Paul. Diac. p. 222 : Pellices nunc quidem appellmitur alienis 
succumhentes, non solum foe?mnce, sed etiam mares. Antiqui proprie 
earn pellicem nominahant, quce uxoi'em habenti nuhehant. Cui generi 
mulierum etiam pmia constituta est a Numa Pompilio hac lege : 
Pellex aram Junonis ne tangito ; si langet, Jwioni crinibus demissis 
agnum fceminam ecedito. So Gell. iv. 3 : Pellicem aidem appellatam 
prohrosamque hahitam, quce juncta cofisuetaque esset cum eo, in cujus 
manu mancipioque alia matrimonii causa foret, hac antiqidssima 
lege ostenditur, etc. Later, the concubine was called by a paulo 
honestiore nomine, — amica. 



I 



170 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus I. 

BETEOTHING AND DIVOECE. 

MiKRiAöE, in Greece, or at least in Athens, required, to be 
valid, to be preceded by a solemn betrothal ; see Becker's Charicles, 
translated by Metcalfe, p. 351. Amongst the Eomans this was not 
essential, but solicitation for the bride was made to her father, or in 
case of his death to her brother or guardian, and his consent must 
be obtained. Dio. Cass, xlviii. 44; lix. 12; Ixiii. 13. From the 
usual form of stipulation, spondesne ? spondeo, the whole act was 
called sponsalia ; the betrothed were called sponsa and sponsus, 
more anciently procus. Another expression was conventce conditio, 
which act preceded the betrothal, and consisted in negotiating the 
amount of the dos, the time of its payment, and so on. Paul. Diac. 
p. 62 : Conventce conditio dicebatvr, quum primtis sermo de nuptiis et 
earum conditione habehatw\ The form of these sponsalia is shown 
in many instances by the comic writers, as Plaut. Aid. ii. 2 ; iii. 5, 
2 ; Cure. v. 2, 74 ; Pam. v. 4 ; Trin. v. 2, 33 ; especially Trin. ii. 
4, 98 :— 

Ph. Sine dote posco tuam sororem filio. 

Quse res bene vortat ! habeon', pactam? Quid taces ? 

St. Proh dii immortales, conditionem qnojusmodi ! 

Ph. Quin fabulare, dii bene Tortant : spondee. 

And Pom. v. 3, 36 :— 

Ag. Audin' tu patnie ? dico, ne dictum neges : 

Tuam mihi majorem filiam despondeas. 
Ha. Pactam rem habeto. Ag. Spondes igitur ? Ha. Spondee. 

Cf. Varro, de Ling. Lat. vi. 69. 

The sponsalia were celebrated as a family holiday and with a 
banquet, as Cicero writes, ad Qu. Cur. ii. 6. Family mourning 
was suspended for that day, Suet. Oct. 53. The bride frequently 
received an espousal ring, annulus pronuhus, which was likewise a 
symbolical pledge of sincerity, Juv. vi. 25 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 1, 
4; Tertull, Apolog. 6. The bridegroom also received a present 
from the bride, Dionys. iii. 21. In later times, valuable articles 
were mutually given as securities (arra), which the member who 
drew back from the performance of the contract forfeited. Hence 
it follows, that the engagement, though entered into by the ap- 
pointed words, or even in writing, was not binding on either person, 
and in Eome, as little as in Athens, could an action be brought 
either ex sponsu or ex stipulatu, Juv. vi. 200 : — 

Si tibi legitimis pactam junctamque tabellis 
Non es amaturus, ducendi nulla videtur 
Causa. 
Either person could retract the engagement, renuntiare or remit- 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MAERIAGE. 171 

Ure repudium, Plaut. Aid. iv. 10^ 53 ; Ter. Phörm. iv. 3, 72 : nun- 
tiam remittere et sponsalia dissolvere. Ulp. Dig. xxiii. 1, 110. Re- 
pudium was also said of divorce, Modestin. Dig. i. 16, 101 : Divor- 
tium inter virum et uxorem ßeri dicitur ; repudium vero spotiscs 
remitti videtur, quod et in uxoris personam non inepte cadit. For 
examples of retracted betrothal, see Plaut. Cat. 3Iin. 7 ; Suet. Cess. 
21, Oct. 62 ; Tac. Ann. xii. 3, 9 ; Dio. Cass. xlvi. 56, &c. Tkis 
betrotlial was not entirely without legal validity, although only so 
long as the engagement between the bride and bridegroom was 
not broken off, and it was considered disgraceful during its continu- 
ance to enter into a second engagement, and infidelity on the part 
of the bride was even regarded as adidteriu7n. 

According to a custom of the ancient Latins, the person who 
suffered by the drawing back of the other party from the engage- 
ment, had a groimd of action, and the judge compelled the person 
who thus retracted without sufficient cause, to pay a sum of money 
(litem pecunia cestimahat). After the union, of Latium with Home, 
this jus sponsaliorum ceased, Gell. iv. 4. 

The terms sperata, pacta, sponsa, destinata refer to the espousals, 
and not to the different forms of marriage, or to the various 
stages of the engagement. 

In the same manner as the promise made at the espousals could 
be dissolved, so was also divorce from marriage always possible, 
without any one being authorised by the civil power to oppose it. 
This freedom was, however, much restrained by the moral feeling 
of the people and the great respect they entertained for the sacred- 
ness of the marriage bond. Add to this, there was the family 
council of relatives which must always be consulted before a di- 
vorce, and the fear of the Censor's reproof, which followed a 
divorce on insufficient grounds. This freedom of divorce appears 
too, if the explanation of Dionysius be correct, not to refer to 
COnfarreatio, ii. 25 : Ei'f ovvOtafxov ävayKoior oIkeiÖttj-oq ecpspev ä^ia- 
XvTov Kai TO Siaiprjrfov tovq ydfiovg rovrovg ovSev ijv. We must, how- 
ever, recollect that in his time confarreatio was confined to the 
marriages of priests, which were always indissoluble ; he could also 
easily err, by taking as an example of the old confarreatio the 
marriage of a flamen and flaminica. Therefore a union of the 
passage of Dionysius with Plut. Horn. 22, does not so decidedly 
negative it, as is supposed. Plut. says : "EBijks Sk Kai vofiovg tlvuc, 
wv afvdpog n'iv iariv b yvvaiKi /i?) Sidovg aizoXdirHV avSpa, yvvaiKa ck 
CiSovg äKßdWeiv Ittl (papfiaKeia t^kvmv t) kXh^C^v vrroßoXy Kai fioi\ev- 
Gdffav, which account agrees well with that of Dionysius, since 
Plutarch does not, like him, speak exclusively of marriage by con- 



172 THE WOMEN AND KOMAN MAREIAGE. [Excursus I. 

farreatio, but of marriage generally. It were absurd to suppose 
that the marriage should continue binding, if such crimes as those 
named occurred. This law of Romulus moreover decreed, that 
if a man should separate for any other reason, one half of his 
property should fall to his repudiated wife, and the other be de- 
dicated to Ceres. And hence, in order to prevent hasty marriage, 
it was made, as much as possible, indissoluble. 

There are also other instances to show that release from mar- 
riage occurred in the earlier times of the Republic, and that the 
Twelve Tables contained directions on the subject. The account of 
Sp. Carvilius Ruga, a.u.c. 520 or 523, having been the first to put 
away his wife, certainly is opposed to this idea. Dionys. ii. 25, 
says this in the most decided way : öjiioXoyarat kvrbg erwv e'lKoai kuI 
'TTivratcoffiMv [jLtjSilg Iv 'PoJfJ-y diaXvürjvaL ydfiOQ. — TrpwTog äiroXvcrai \s~ 
ySTai Ti)v kavTOv yvvaiKa 'STTOvpiog Kap. ävrip ovk äfavrjg^ avayKaZ,ö- 
fxevog vTTo rCov TifjirjTÖJv ofioaca tskvojv 'iveKa jvvaiKi jxy) avvoiKeiv. But 
the last words are either corrupt or contain an error, as the 
account of Gell. xvii. 2, shows : Anno deinde P. R. c. quingentesimo 
undevicesimo Sp. Carv. Ruga primus Momce de amicorum sententia 
divortium cum uxore fecit, quod sterilis esset jurassetque apud cen- 
sores, uxorem se liberorum qucerendorum causa habere. Val. Max. ii. 
1, 4, also mentions the year 520 ; but, on the other hand, we find 
another important example in Plutarch, agreeing ^hat the first di- 
vorce, that of Sp. Carvilius, took place in the year 230. This year 
has indeed every probability against it, as the separation of Carvi- 
lius would have taken place in the time of the Kingdom, whilst 
the whole account refers to that of the Republic, namely, to the 
period when the censorship was separated from the Consulate. 
Sulpicius, too, quotes the authority of Gellius as by far the most 
important. On the other hand, again, no one will believe it likely 
that for 520 years together, until some 150 years before Cicero, no 
divorce should have taken place in Rome. The whole matter 
seems to rest on a misunderstanding of the second passage of Gell, 
iv. 3. From this it appears probable, that the divorce of Carvilius 
took place under particular circumstances, different from those of 
the more ancient divorces, whence it came to pass that his divorce, 
which in some respects was the first of its kind, came to be con- 
sidered the first generally. Sulpicius does not affirm that it was 
the first divorce, else Gellius would not merely say : Quia profecto 
nihil desiderahantur (viz. rei uxoriae actiones et cautiones) nullis 
etiamtunc matrimoniis divertentibus, i.e. Gellius infers merely from 
the non-existence of the cautiones rei uxoriae, that divorces came 
into use later. Probably Sp. Carvilius was the first who separated 



Scene I.] THE WOMEX AiS^D ROMAN MARRIAGE. 173 

from liis wife for a reason diflferent from those originally in force, 
namely, with the selfish object of retaining the dos, whilst he jus- 
tified himself upon pretended religious scruples. His sophistry led 
to the desired result, but the right feeling of the people manifested 
itself in loud disapprobation of his conduct, and the cautiones rei 
uxoriae were therefore soon introduced, in order to prevent similar 
. consequences. Through these circumstances, and the fact that few 
have the cautiones dated, the divorce of Carvilius obtained celebrity, 
and so it may easily happen that after two hundred years and more, 
people should entertain the idea that it had been the first of all. 
That this divorce in some respect was the first, many learned men 
agree : one states, that it was the first sterilitatis causa ; another, 
without consulting the judgment of cognati j a third, of a binding 
marriage, and so on. 

Let us return now to the demonstration of the early divorce, and 
refer first to the case related by Yal. Max. ii. 9, 2 : Horum seven- 
totem M. Valei'ius Maximus et C. Junius Buhulcus Brutus ceiisores in 
consimili genere animadvei'sianis imitatiL. Antonium senatu moverunt, 
quod quam virginem in matmnonium duxerat, repudiasset, mdlo ami- 
corum in consilium, adhihito. It would be false to suppose from this 
that divorces were uncommon or forbidden. We must, in the first 
place, recollect that the nota censoria is by no means regarded as 
judicium, as the instructive passage in Cic. pro Clu. 42 — 48, shows. 
The sentence of the Censor is entirely subjective, and has therefore 
but a limited importance. So it does not follow from the animad- 
versio censoria against Antonius, that he did anything forbidden and 
liable to punishment, when he separated from his wife j but there 
was something reprehensible in the manner in which he did it, as 
we learn from Val. Max, himself, when he adds : Nidlo amicorum 
in consilium adkibito. A family consultation was always held in 
such cases, and thence it is said of Carvilius : De amicorum sententia. 
See the early part of this Excursus. Antonius' manner of pro- 
ceeding was arbitrary and harsh, and thence the whole aflair caused 
animadversio censoria. This divorce took place a.tj.c. 447, some 
fifty years before the first Punic war. 

But other proof exists, that in much earlier times divorce was 
properly established and strictly ordained by laws. Cicero, Phil. 
ii. 28, says jokingly of Antonius, who had dismissed Cytheris under 
the same formalities as those of divorce : Illam suam suas res sihi 
habere jussit, ex duodecim tabulis claves adetnit, exegit. From this 
mention of the Twelve Tables, it follows that the proper relations of 
those who separated were therein contained, as well perhaps as 
certain formalities to be observed. Into the grounds on which a 



174 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MAERIAGE. [Excüksus T: 

divorce was to be obtained, inquiry was made sometimes by the 
council of cognati 5 at others by the judge in the judicium de mori- 
hus, after the introduction of cautiones et actiones rei uxorise. This 
last, however, only occurred when the pecuniary affairs of the two 
separating parties, as in the case of the return of the dos, could not 
be settled by friendly arbitration. The question then was, whether 
it was the fault of the husband or of the wife, that led to the 
divorce (utrius culpa divortium factum, Quinct. iii. 4, 11). On 
the part of the woman, the causes were, besides capital offences, 
adultery and drinking, and the latter was very severely punished in 
ancient times. Plin. H. N. xiv. 13 : On. Domitius judex pronwvtia- 
vit : muliersm vide7'i plus hibisse quam valetudinis causa, viro insci- 
ente, et dote multavit. See Gellius x. 23, and Cato's speech there. 
That divorces became much more frequent after the Punic wars 
is explained by the decay of manners then introduced, and by the 
marriage ties becoming more and more lax. The censor's reproof 
was no longer dreaded, and we find that at that time divorce 
occurred on account of the most trivial circumstances. Val. Max. 
vi., out of many, selects three examples of the kind, that of Sulpi- 
cius Gallus, who uxorem demisit, quod earn capite aperto forts versa- 
tam coynoverat ; secondly, of Q. Antistius Vetus, quod illam in pub- 
lico cum quadam lihertina vulgari secreto loquentem, viderat ; thirdly, 
of P. Sempronius Sophus, qui conjugem repudii nota affecit, nihi 
aliud quam se ignorante ludos ausam spectare. It is, besides, doubt- 
ful whether the causes here assigned were not a mere pretence. 
In the last period of the Republic, divorce prevailed to a frightful 
extent ; marriage was thoughtlessly entered upon, and dissolved 
at pleasure. Sylla, Caesar, Pompey, Cicero, and Antony, put away 
their wives, and Augustus and his successor followed their ex- 
ample. At that time this also occurred on the women's part, 
without any fault being committed by their husbands. It had 
previously been far more difficult for them to dissolve a marriage, 
and the husband's want of fidelity gave them no authority, as 
Plaut. Meyi. iv. 6, 1, says : — 

Ecastor lege dura vivunt midieres 

Multoque iniquiore miserse quern viri. 

Nam si vir scortum duxit clam uxorem suam, 

Id si rescivit iixor, impune est viro ; 

Uxor viro si clam domo egressa est foras, 

Viro fit causa, exigitur matrimonio. 

Utinam lex esset eadem quse uxori est viro ! etc. 

In Cicero's time and afterwards, separations by the women are 
often mentioned, as Cic. ad Fam. viii. 7 ) ad Att. xi. 23 (in this 



Scene I.J THE WOMEN" AND ROMAN MAERIAGE. 175 

case with reason) ; pro Clii. 5 ) Mart. Ep. yi. 7 ; x. 41. Sen. de Ben. 
iii. 16 : Numquid jam ulla repudio eruhescit f — non consulum numei^o, 
sed maritorum annos suos computant et exeunt matrimonn causa, 
nuhunt repudii. 

The most common term for the dissolution of marriage was di- 
vortium, which properly means a separation which took place with 
the consent of both the parties concerned. Paul. Dig. i. 16, 161 : 
Did. ex eo dictum est, quod in diversas partes eunt qui discedunt. 
Modest. 101 : Div. inter virum et uxorem fieri dicitur. Cf. Isidor. 
ix. 8. So also discidium, which was also generally used when the 
separation was mutual. These words were commonly joined with 
facere. On the other hand repudium refers to a divorce on one 
side, and is therefore used only of the party by whom it was caused. 
So the term used was not repudium facere, hut repudium mittere, 
remitiere, dicere, scribere, nuntiare, renuntiare ; nuntium remitiere 
was also similar ; see Plaut. Aul. iv. 10, 53, 69 : Ter. Phorm. iv. 8, 
72; Cic. adAtt. i. 13; xi. 23; de Orat. i. 40; Top. 4; Suet, fre- 
quently. Besides these expressions, there were exigere and ejicere 
said of the man, Cic, Phil. ii. 28, 38 ; discedere of the woman, Ter, 
Andr. iii. 3, 36, which differed from each other, as in Greek did 
ttcTrefjiTreLv or sKßäWeiv and awoXeiireiv. It has been, without suffi- 
cient reason, suggested, that divortium was said especially of the 
women, repudium of the men ; and also that the former refers to 
divorce from strict, the latter from free, marriage. 

The formula of separation either by mutual consent, or by the 
desire of one party, as given in the Twelve Tables, was : Tuas res tibi 
habeto. This applied as well to the man who wished to separate as to 
the woman ; see Cic. Phil. ii. 28 ; Plaut. Amph. iii. 2, 47 : Valeas, 
tibi habeas res tuas, reddas meas ; also Trin. ii, 1, 31 : Tuas res tibi 
habe. See also Mart, x, 41 ; Quinct, Decl. 262, &c. The woman 
resigned the key, but it is doubtful whether this formality was pre- 
scribed by the Twelve Tables. Sometimes also this order was ac- 
companied by another, to quit the house (foras exi), which the 
woman alone could give, if she were mistress of the house ; see 
Plaut, Mil. Glor. iv. 6, 62 ; cf. Plaut. Cas. ii. 2, 31 ; Mart. xi. 104. 
Written notices also, or verbal ones by a messenger, came into 
practice ; whence the expressions renuntiatio or nuntium remittere. 
The contract made on the conclusion of the marriage was generally 
destroyed (rumpere tabulas nuptiales), Juv. ix. 75 ; Tac. Ann. xi. 30. 
When the marriage had been solemnly entered upon with manus, 
this simple formula was not sufficient to dissolve it. Therefore con- 
farreatio required a formal diffarreatio. Paul. Diac. p. 74 : Diff. 
genus ei-at sacrificii, quo inter virum et mulier em fiebat dissolutio. 



176 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MAERIAGE. [Excursus I. 

Dicta diff., quia fiehat farreo liho adhihito. The same solemnities 
and persons whicli occurred at the confarreatio must be repeated 
at the diffarreatio. Sacerdos confarreationum et diffarreationum, Orell. 
Inscr. 2648. Beyond this nothing is known on the subject, as 
what Plut. Qucest. Rom. 50^ relates of Domitian, refers to the 

divorce of a flamen dialis : o'l dk Upeig irnpty'ivovro n] tov ydiiov 
oiaXvaa iroWa (ppiKiodr) Kai äWÖKOTa Kai aKvBpiinrä Cpiovrec. 

When the man us of the woman had been by mancipatio, 
divorce ensued by the preceding simple formula ; but manus con- 
tinued until taken away by a formal remancipatio. Fest. : Qucd man- 
cipata sit ah eo, qui in manum convenerit. See also the imperfect 
passage of Gai. i. 137. We are not told by which form the 
manus by usus was unloosened. Probably a simple declaration 
was sufficient. 

The divorced wife could marry again, so too could the widow 
after the full time of mourning ; but in the early days, when marriage 
had a higher sanction, this could not be done without prejudice to 
the character of the woman. A woman vudtarum nuptiarum, as 
Cic. ad Att. xiii. 29, says, received no respect, Plut. Qu. Rom. 102. 
Tertull. de Exhort. Cast. 13, de Monogam. 13, places her in con- 
trast to univir-a, which expression is also found on inscriptions. 
A woman married for the second time could not be a pronuba or 
touch the statue of Pudiciiia, of Foi-tnna 31idiehris, or Mater Ma- 
tuta, Liv. X. 23 ; Fest. Pudic. p. 242, 245. On the second marriage 
there were some external forms less full of honour than on the first : 
see Serv. on Virg. JEn. xi. 476 -, Prop. iv. 11, 85 ; iv. 8, 27. 



CELIBACY. 

VoLTJNTAET celibacy was considered, in very early times, aa 
censurable and even guilty. Sozom. h. e. i. 9, mentions an old 
law on the subject ; and Dionys. ix. 22, speaks of a family law 
relating to it in the gens Fabia. From Festus, p. 379, we learn 
that there was a celibate fine. JJxorium pependisse dicitur, quij 
quod uxorem 7ion habnerit, res p'opulo dedit ; and the censors, whose 
attention was turned to the maintenance and increase of the popu- 
lation, watched over the ministration of these old decrees. Cic. de 
Leg. iii. 3 ; Val. Max. ii. 9, 1. Camillus et Postumius censores esra 
poencB nomine eos qui ad senectutem calibes pervenerant, in esrarium de- 
ferre jusserunt ; 403 B.c. ; 351 a. u. c. Hortatory speeches from the 
censors to the people, de ducendis uxoribus and de prole augenda, 
also took place. In Suet, Oct. 89, Q. Csecilius Metellus says: 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN AND EOMAN MAEEIAGE. 177 

Si sine uxore possemus, Quirites, esse, omnes ea tnolestia careremus ; 
sed quoniam ita natura tradidit, ut nee cum Ulis satis commode nee 
sine Ulis ullo modo vivi possit, saluti perpetuce potius quam hrevi 
vohiptati consulendum ; cf. Gell. i. 6; Liv. Ep. lix. ; Sueton, Oct. 
89. It was quite a Grecian view of the case to consider a wife as 
a necessary evil. Menand. p. 190 : äväjKr} yap yvvcniz elvai kukov, 
ciWa evrvxnQ ^(t9' o fxeTpiMTarovXaßojv ; see Becker's Charicles, trans- 
lated by Metcalfe, p. 346. In the general deterioration of manners, 
and especially after the civil wars, the number of unmarried in- 
creased extraordinarily, and even before Juvenal's time marriage 
was so critical a matter that one might well call out 

Gerte samis eras ! Uxorem, Postume, duels ? 
Die, qua Tisiphone, quibus exagitare eolubris ? 

The demands which women, especially those of rank, made, 
were, in the time of Plautus, of such a kind that the taste for mar- 
riage became nearly lost. See Aulul. iii. 5, Mil. iii. I, 91. If the 
wife brought an important dowry, the position of the husband in 
the house was frequently not the most agreeable. Hence De- 
msenetus complains in Plaut. Asin. i. 1, 74. Argentum accepi ; dote 
Imperium vendidi ; eind JSpid. ii. i. 11, where Apoecides remarks: 
Pulcra edepol dos pecunia est, Periphanes replies : quce quidem pol 
non maritata est. Juvenal vi. 460, Intolerahilius nihil est quam y 
femina dives, and Mart. viii. 12 : 

Uxorem qnare locupletem ducere nolim, 
Quseritis ? uxori nubere nolo mege. 

Learned women were dreaded. Sit non doctissima conjux, Mart, 
ii. 90, makes a condition. See Juv. vi. 448 : 

Non habeat matrona, tibi quae juncta recumbit, / 

Dicendi genus, aut curtum sermone rotate j 

Torqueat enthymema, nee historias sciat omnes : \ 

Sed qusedam ex libris et non intelligat. J 

As the view implying censure had entirely passed away, Caesar 
sought to encourage marriage b}^ rewards ; but Augustus published, 
through the lex Julia et Papia Poppcea, some very stringent and 
even ridiculous decrees against celibacy. And, on the other hand, 
certain advantages accrued to those who had many children, jus 
trium liherorum. These laws, however, do not seem to have had 
much result, as we see from Tac. Ann. iii. 25. They were defeated 
by the emperors themselves, who often gi-anted the jus trium libe- 
rorum to persons who had very few or no children, or were not 
even married. 



178 THE WOMEN AND ROMAIC MAHEI AGE. [Excursus I. 

CHILDEEN. 

If tlie Roman custom in relation to marriage and the position of 
women genei-ally, is decidedly to be preferred to that of the Greeks, 
it cannot he denied that the reverse was the case as regarded the 
relations of children, as the arbitrary power which the father had 
over them in Rome was a flagrant injustice: the freedom of an 
individual was thus limited in a most unjust manner, and the child 
held in an unnatural dependence on his father. The great mis- 
take consisted in the Roman father considering the power which 
Nature imposes as a duty on the elders, of guiding and protecting 
a child during infancy, as extending over his freedom, involving 
his life and death, and continuing during his entire existence. The 
Grecian law differed ipi two respects from the Boman : first, that 
the father's power ceased with the son's independence, and this he 
attained either by arriving at a certain period of life, or by mar- 
riage, or by being entered on the list of citizens. Secondly, the 
Grecian father had mo'ely the right of terminating the rehition 
between child and parent, by banishing him from his house, or dis- 
inheriting him, without daring to injure either his liberty or life. 

The patria potestas of the Romans was in theory indeed very 
different from absolute possession (dominmni), but in reality it ap- 
proached very near to it, especially in ancient times ; only the latter 
extended over things, the former over persons. Consequently this 
potestas gave the father the right over the life and liberty of his 
child. Dion. ii. 26, after drawing attention to the difference of the 
Grecian laws, says : 6 tCov 'Pujfiaiujv vofioBkTi]Q airaaav wg dir ay 'i&iijKtv 
k%ovaiav Trarpl Ka6' vlav Koi Trapa Trdvra rbv rov ßiov 'xpovov, tdv re 
tipyeiv^ tCLV re fxaaTiyovVy tdv re okajMOV tTrl rwv kut' dypbv 'ipyMv Kar- 
sxeiVj edv re dwoKTivvvvai 7Tpoaipr]Tai^ icdv tu TroXinm Trpdrruiv b 7rai(j 
7]dr] Tvyxdv7j, kuv hv dpxaig raig jjnyinraiQ s^eTaCöfievog, /cov did Trjv dg 
rd KOLvd (piKoTijiiav iiraivovn^vog. This law, said to be as early 
as Romulus, but at any rate very ancient, was revived in all its 
severity in the twelve Tables. Dionys. c. 27 : oi. Xaßbvng -jrapd 
Tov dijfiov Tr)v t'iovaiav Trjg cvrayMyrjg re Kal tTriypacprig avriov (i. e. 
vo/xwv) d&Ka dvSpeg lijia roig dWoig dvsypatpav vo/iioig. He then 
controverts the possible notion that the Decemvirs introduced 
this, by citing an institution of Numa : tdv irartip vi^ avyxojp'n<yy 
yvvaiKa dyaysaCaL Koivujvbi'^ aaofisi'rjv upu)v re Kal jfjO??/iara»i' /card rovg 
vopLovg, firjKSTi ttjv IKovaiav elvai rtp narpi TrcjXeiv rovg viovg. This 
power quite agreed with the ancient severity, (see Liv. i. 26, 
where Horatius says, Se fUiam jure ccesain judicare, ni ita esset, 
pattio jure in filium animadversurmnfuisse), but it was afterwards 



Scene I.J THE WOMEN AND SOMAN MARRIAGE. 179 

recognised "by law, as the usual form of adoption shews. Orot, pro 
Domo 29 : Credo enim, quanquam in ilia adoptione legitime factum 
est nihil, tarnen te esse interrogatum, : auctorne esses, ut in te P. Fon- 
teius vit(B necisque j^otestatem hahei'et, ut in ßlio, and the complete 
form in Gell. v. 19 : Velitis Jubeatis, ut L. Valerius, L. Titio, turn 
jure legeque ßlius siet, quam si ex eo patre matreque familias ejus natus 
esset, utique ei vitce necisque in eum potestas siet, uti patri endofilio est. 
Hcec ita, ut dixi, vos Quirites rogo. The unnatural part of this 
decree was somewhat modified, in that the right of life and death 
belonged in fact to that of discipline and punishment, which was per- 
mitted by the State to the paterfamilias, and as the father could not 
act on his own judgment, hut must, conformably to custom, summon 
a family council, as e. g. Val. Max. v. 8, 2 : Cassiusßlium — adhihito 
propinquorum et amicorum consilio affeetati regni crimine domi dam- 
navit verherihusque affectum necari jussit. On the hilling of Sp. 
Cassius VisceUinus by his father, see Liv. ii. 41 ; Dionys. viii. 79 ?' 
Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 4. This j udgment is mentioned by Val. Max. y. 
8, 3, where he says of T. Manlius Torquatus, ne consilio quidem neces- 
sariorum indigere se credidit, as his son had been accused by the 
Macedonians on account of extortion. The father sat in judgment 
for three days, hearing witnesses and so on, and at last banished 
his son from his presence, whereupon he killed himself; so Cic. de 
Fin. i. 7. Val. Max. relates another instance, v. 9, 1. L. Gellius held 
judgment on his son, pcsne univet'so se^iatu adhihito in consilium, and 
after careful inquiry, absolvit eum itwi co)icilii turn etiam sententia 
sua. See also Quiuct. Decl. viii. 4, and 356. Ocher examples are 
related, of sentence being passed on sons by their fathers, without 
mention of the family council, and probably because the official 
position of the father rendered such aid unnecessary, as in the 
harsh judgment of Brutus and T. Manlius Imperiosus : see also Liv. 
iv. 29. In capital offences too the father could by himself inflict 
punishment, as it is deemed more proper that he should himself 
condemn his sou, than that he should come himself" as his accuser. 
So Sail. Cat. 39 relates : Fuere tarnen extra conjurationem complures, 
qui ad Catilinam initio profecti sunt: in his A. Fulvius senatoris 
ßlius quem retractmn ex itinere parens necari jussit. Of. Dio Cass. 
xxxviii. 36, and Val. Max. v. 8, 5, and vi. 1, 3. Sen. de Clem. i. 14, 15, 
relates two instances of a father's judgment in the time of Augustus. 
In the latter case the father condemned the son for parricide, letting 
him off with exile only. A solemn family council also preceded, 
to which the emperor was invited ; there the kindness of the father 
openly prevailed, and whilst he made use of his right, he protected 
his son from the punishment which he would have found in the 

N 2 



180 THE WOMEN AND ROMAN MARRIAGE. [Excursus I. 

public court of justice. The second case proves the harshness and 
misuse to which this right could be applied. Erixonem equitem JRom. 
Tnemoria nostra, quia filium suum flagellis occiderat, populus in foro 
graphiis confodit. Vix ilium Augusti Ccesaris auctoritas infestis tarn 
patrum quamßliorum manihus eripuit. But after all, not one case of 
absolute death is mentioned, but only of cruel punishment. Tac. 
Ann. xvi. 33, gives another example : Montanus patri concessus est, 
prcedicto, ne in repuhlica haberetur. That is wrong, however : on the 
contrary, the son was pardoned from respect to his father. See 
Quinct. Decl. viii. xix. &c. If a misuse of the patria potestas 
occurred in earlier times, the censor could resent it, Dionys, xx. 3 ; 
Oros. V. 16, even speaks of a public indictment; in later days the 
emperor saw to it, as it is related of Trajan and Hadrian. In the 
two hundredth year of the empire this power was taken away from 
the father by law. 

Although the right of sale undeniably existed, and was recog- 
nised by the twelve Tables, no instance of it exists ; and we may 
therefore suppose tliat it was early abolished, and used only as a 
form in the emancipatio. Numa even seems to have limited this 
right, according to Dionys. ii. 27 ; so too Plut. Num. 17. In the 
form of mancipatio, the father had the right to sell the son three 
times ; after the third time he did not again come into the patria 
potestas. So the twelve Tables decreed : Si pater ßlium ter venum 
duitjßlius a patre liher esto, Ulp. x. 1 ; Gai. i. 132. Plaut. Stich. 
i. 1, 54; 2, 11 ; Trin. ii. 2, 20, speaks generally of the obedience 
due from children to their father. 

From the patria potestas must be entirely separated the right 
with which we frequently meet in antiquity, of killing or exposing 
new-born children. In Rome it did not exist to so great an extent as 
elsewhere. Romulus is said to have interdicted sons and first-born 
daughters from being killed, Dionys. ii. 28. On the other hand, it 
seems to have been commanded that the deformed should be put to 
death, Cic. de Leg. iii. 8 ; Liv. xxvii. 37 ; Sen. de Ira, i. 18. That 
the exposure and murder of the new-born was not unfrequent, even 
in the most important families, many instances show ; as Dio Cass, 
xlv. 1, and the Lex Gentilicia of the Fabii, Dionys. ix. 22 : ra yej/roj- 
Htva iirävajKiQ Tpi(peiv; see Plaut. Cas. prol. 41, 79; Cist. i. 3, 17, 
31 ; Ter. Heaut. iv. 1, 37. Whether the colwnna lactaria men- 
tioned by Paul. Diac. p. 118, is connected with this custom, is not 
certain. 

The son remained in the father's power until his death, unless 
either of them had suffered a capitis diminutio. The patria po- 
testas ceased if the son became a flamen dialis. Tac. Ann. iv. 16 1 



Scene I.] THE WOMEN ANB KOMAX MAERIAGE. 181 

Gai. iii. 114. Other dignities made no difference, see Val. Max. y. 
4, 5. In. the case of a daughter it ceased when she entered into 
marriage with manus^ or became a vestal virgin. Gell. i. 12 : JEo 
statim tempore sine emancipatione ac sine capitis tninutione e patris 
potestate exit. Ulp. x. 5 : In potestate parentum esse desinunt et hi, 
qui Flamines Divales inaugurantur, et quce Virgines Vestce capiuntur. 
Gai. i. 130. 

If a father wished to renounce the patria potestas over his son, 
it must be done either by adoption (by which he passed into another 
potestas) or by the formality of emancipation. This consisted iii 
selling the son three times to a, pater ßduciaj'ius, who manumitted 
him according to a previously-made contract after the first and 
second mancipation ; but after the third he mancipated him back 
to the father, on which the latter became his pater, and manumitted 
him in lihertatem. This minuteness was the consequence of the 
directions of the twelve Tables, that the father should three times 
sell his son. Ulp. x. 1 : Liheri parentum potestate liherantur eman- 
cipatione, i. e. si posteaquam mancipati fuerint, manumissi sint. Sed 
ßlius quidem ter mancipatus, ter manu?nissus sui Juris Jit. Id enim lex 
xii. tabular urn juhet his verbis : Si pater ßlium ter venum duit, ßlius 
a patre liber esto. Ceteri autem üben prceter ßlium tarn mascidi 
quam femincB una mancipatione manumissioneque sui Juris ßunt. 



EXCUESUS IL SCENE I. 



EDUCATION. 



IVrOTWITHSTANDING the harsh power which amongst the 
-L^ Romans the paterfamilias possessed over his fainilia, it must 
not he forgotten that in the house far more of real family life oc- 
curred, and that a more strong and sacred hand hound together the 
different memhers of the house amongst the Romans than amongst 
the Greeks. The chief cause of this was the higher dignity of the 
housewife, whose influence asserted itself happily in the education of 
the children, not only as a mother during their earliest years, hut also 
in superintending them during their riper years. The eulogy which 
Tac. Agric. iv. hestows on the mother of Agricola, in a sadly degene- 
rate age (mater Julia Procilla fuit 7'arce castitatis. In hu/us sinu in- 
diilgentia educatus per omne7n honedorum artinra cidtum piieritiam 
adolescentiamque transegit), carries us hack to the oldest and hetter 
days of the Repuhlic. So says also the author de Caus. corr. Eloq. 
28 : Jam primum srms ciiique ßlius ex casta parente iiatus in cella 
emptcs nutricis sed gremio ac sinu matris educahatur, cxijus prcecipua 
laus erat tueri domum et inservire hberi's. If history gives few ex- 
amples of celehrated women, and their power over their children, 
like that of Cornelia and Veturia, we must reflect that such re- 
lations were very seldom mentioned, and only in connexion with 
conspicuous persons and events ; hut from those few we may under- 
stand the general character of the liousehold relations. 

The expression tollere and suscipere liheros (analogous to t'ekvo 
avaipfinQai) shews that amongst the Romans a similar custom to that 
of the Greeks prevailed after the hirth of the child, with regard to 
the declaration of the father, as to whether he would hriug up the 
child as his own. Plaut, Amph. i. 3, 3 ; Cist. ii. 3, 8; True. ii. 4, 
45 ; Most. i. 2, 41 ; Ter. Heaut. iv. 1, 15 ; Andr. i. 3, 14 ; Hec. iv. 1, 
56 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 45. What August, de Civ. Dei, iv. 11, relates of 
a divinity Levana (levat infantes de terra), as if the presider over 
this ceremony, may well refer to ancient times ; hut the name is not 
mentioned elsewhere. What Varro xii. 36, says, refers to this : 
Natus si erat vitalis ac suhhtus ah ohstetrice, statuehatur in terra, tit 
auspicaretur rectus esse. The number of tutelary gods recognised by 
the Romans for special cases, and particular moments of life, was 
so extraordinarily great, that there is an appearance of truth about 
the saying of the pontifices, Singidis actibus 2>roprios deos prceesse. 



Scene L] EDUCATION. 183 

Macrob. Sat. i, 17 : Z'^nius dei effectus varios pro variis censendos esse 
numinihus. From the earliest cliildliood there were besides Levana, 
VagitanVrS, or Vaticamts, (penes quern essent vocis humanes initia). 
Varr. in Gell. xvi. 7 ; Cunina (ctmas administraf), August, de Civ. 
Dei. iv. 11, Potina JEdusa, or Educa (escam prcshef) and Cidja, Non. 
ii. 310 : Edusam et Potinam deas prcesides vidt liaberi puerorum 
Varro : Quum primo cibo et potione initiarent pueros, sacrißcahantur 
ab edulibus Edusce, a potione Potince. Donat. on Ter. Phorm. i. 1, 15: 
Legitur apud Varronem initiari pueros Edidifs et Poticce et OubcBj 
dims edendi et potandi et cidyandi, ubi primum a lade et a eunis 
transierunt, etc. 

Nine days after the birth of the boys (nundincs), and eight after 
that of the girls, the lustratio took place, and at the same time the 
oiofia'-erria, nomen accipieba7it. Hence the day was called dies lus- 
trica, dies nominum, nominalia. In this ceremony there was also a 
special divinity, Nundina : Macrob. Sat. i. 16 : Est etiam Nundina 
Romanorum dea, a nono die nascentium nuncupata^ qui lustricus 
dieitur ; est autem dies lustricus, quo infantes lustrantur et nomen 
aecipiunt. The dies lustri&us was celebrated as a family holiday, 
and small gifts were presented to the child by the parents and 
relatives, and even by the slaves, and this was repeated in after 
years on the birth-day. This was a Grecian custom originally, but 
it also took place amongst the Romans. Plautus mentions as play- 
things of this kind, Pud. iv. 4, 110, ensicultis aureolus literatus,-with. 
his father's name. Dues connexce manimdcs ; suxnda argentea ; bidla 
aurea. Ep. v. 1, 33 : aurea lumda et anellus aureus. The children, 
as amongst the Greeks {livayvwpmiiara), carried these toys sus- 
pended from their necks (Plaut. Mil. v. 6), and being of metal, 
they were called from their clanking {a crepando^, crepundia. 
Works of art, representing children with such crepundia on their 
necks, have been preserved. 

The bulla aurea which Plautus mentions, signifies most certainly 
that this was a Roman custom; being mtroduced by the Etruscans 
into Rome, it was a distinction of children of high birth unknown 
to the Greeks. This bulla was a round, flat case of gold (Isidor. 
xix. 31), an amulet, which sometimes opened, and was worn by 
children suspended round the neck, and hung directly on the 
breast. Prop. iv. 131; Plut. Qu. Rom. 101; and Mac. Sat. i. 6, 
make various attempts to explain the meaning which had long 
passed away, and of a custom which was no longer intelligible. It 
is certain that the bulla aurea, with the toga prcetexta, which was 
worn at the same time by children, was introduced by the Etrus- 
cans; hence Juv. calls it aurum Etruscum; and that it was a pre- 



184 EDUCATION. [Excursus If. 

servative against fascination, and therefore properly Lung around 
children. For that reason also, the Triumphator wore it during 
that ceremony : see Plut. Rom. 25, and Macrob. i. 6, who names 
Tarquinius Priscus as the one through whom the use of it hy chil- 
dren came into vogue. Originally, the bulla with the prsetexta 
was worn only by children of patrician birth (Liv. xxvi. 36, says, 
by the sons of senators), but the prsetexta by knights also. Cic. 
Phil. ii. 18, Tenesne 'prcetextatum te decoxisse ? In the second Punic 
war, however, the prsetexta was worn by the children of lihertini, 
born in a lawful marriage, and instead of the bulla aurea one of 
leather was hung round the neck. Juv. v. 164 : 

.... quis enim tam nudus, ut ilium 

Bis ferat, Etruscum puero si contigit auriim, 

Vel nodus tantum et signum de paupere loro ? 

In Cicero's time we find both bulla and prgetexta dependent on 
the census, and the bulla in no case limited to patrician families. 
Cic. Ve)T. i. 44 : Eripies igitur pupillce togam prmtextam ? detrahes 
ornarnmta non solum fortunce sed etiam ingenuitatis? 58 : neque tam 
commovebat, quod ille ciim toga prcetexta, quam quod sine bulla 
venei^at. Vestitus enim neminem commovebat is, quern Uli mos ei Jus 
ingenuitatis dabat. Quod ornamentum pueriti(2 pater dedei^at, indi- 
ciutn atque insigne fortuncB, hoc ab isto prcedotie er'epttim esse, graviter 
et acerbe homines ferebant. The pupillus had lost the bulla with his 
fort^me, but the prsetexta remained to him as ingemms. It is not 
correct, however, to suppose that the bulla was generally the sign 
of Roman freedom, and that every ingenuus wore it, although this 
might be concluded from Suet. De Clav. Rhet. 1. Statues of young 
Romans with the bulla are common. Such buUse, of various sizes 
with the ornaments, have been found at Herculaneum, as well as 
in Etruscan tombs. 

After the dies lustricus followed the announcement of the chil- 
dren (professio), in order that they might be entered in the public 
registers, which were connected with the chronicles of the day, 
or acta publica. This took place formally and regularly after the 
time of M. Antonius Philosophus, as Capitol, c. 9, relates : Inter 
hcec liberales causas ita munivit, tit primus jidyeret apud prcefectos 
cerarii Satumi unumquemque civium natos liberos prqfiteri intra tri- 
cesimum diem, nomine imposito. Per provincias tabtdariorum jjub- 
licorum usum instituit, apud quos idejn de originibus ßeret, quod 
Rom(s apud prcefectos cerarii. The object of this register was to 
afford means of proving the age and condition of a person, and 
the arrangement was extended over the whole empire. Instances 
are to be found in xAppul. Apolog. p. 92 ; Serv, on Virg. Georg. 



ScESE I.]- EDUCATION. 185 

ii, 502 ', Dig. xxvii. 1, 2 (Ttaidoypacpia), xxii. 3, 29 (in actis pro- 
ßteri), xxii. 3, 16 (inatiHs professio). That this plan of Antonius 
was only a revival of a custom introduced by Servius Tullius is 
not true. Dionys. iv, 15, says, according to L. Piso, that Servius 
had ordered, that on the birth of eveiy child a certain piece 
of money should be delivered at the (Brarium of the temple of 
Juno Lucina, as on each death at that of Venus Libitina, and on 
the putting on of the toga virilis, at that of Juventus, and gives 
as the object : e^ wv r'uxeXXe dia-yi^axTeaOai Ka9' 'iKaoTov Iviavrbv oaoi 
Te 01 avfiTravTiQ yaav ical tIvcQ 1% avTMV T})v arpaTevniixov i]\\Kiav 
elxov. . But Dionys. does not relate that the dh-ection of these 
registers vras mixed up with the alms at the temple. The two in- 
stitutions were quite different. Servius Tullius ordained the alms 
at the temples for births, deaths, and so on, only with the political 
subordinate aim of knowing the number of those who were born, 
and dead, and engaged in military service, and thence of reckoning 
the amount of the whole population. M. Anton. Phil, founded a 
special register of births, in order more securely to settle the ac- 
tions about status (causce liberales^ and at the same time to prevent 
them as much as possible. Serv. Tullius had a political object iu 
his institution, which ceased with the introduction of the census : he 
wished to come at a preparation for the census, or a temporary 
substitute for it, since the census-lists contained all that he wanted 
in a more certain form. M. Anton. Phil, aimed at something more 
enduring, which could not be superseded by any other institution. 
It was an enlargement of the custom, general since the time of 
Caesar, to make known the chief family events, as births, mar- 
riages (Juv. Sat. ii. 136), divorces (Sen. De Ben. iii. 16), &c., in 
the chronicles of the day (or acta diurna, publica, urbana, populi). 
This depended on the will of each person, but was always com- 
mon, partly because these public and authorised announcements 
accommodated differences concerning status, and partly because 
after such open commimications only the rewards decreed by the 
lex Julia and Papia Poppsea were granted. Of such amiounce- 
ments Juv. speaks, ix. 84 : 

Tollis enim et libris actorum spargere gaudes 

Argumenta viri 

Jura parentis habes, propter me scriberis heres, etc. 

Spargei^e clearly signifies the diffusion by means of the acta 
publica. See Petron. Sat. 53, and Suet. Tib. 5, Cal. 8, 25, 26. The 
passage in Cap. Gor-d. 4 (of the time after Antoninus) shews the 
identity between the earlier and later pi'ofessiones : cum apud 
prcefectum cerarii more Romano professus ßliuni publicis actis ejus 
nomen iiiserei'ct. Professus denotes the announcement to which 



186 EDUCATION. [Excursus II. 

everybody was subject : publ oci^a, tlie registration in the chronicle. 
The father himself could also put out an announcement of the 
birth of his child, instrumentiün, which, like every other testimo- 
nium^ was signed by witnesses, Apul. Apol. p. 92. 

In ancient times the Roman mother always nursed the child 
herself, not as the Greeks did: see Becker's Charicles. After- 
wards wet-nurses became very common, especially in the higher 
ranks, and the nurse was herself called mother. Plaut. Metn. 
prol. 19. 

♦ Ita forma simili pueri, uti mater sua 

Non internosse posset qua mammam dabat, 

Neque adeo mater ipsa quae pepererat. 
See Quinct. Inst. i. 1 ; Gell. xii. 1 ; Auct. Dial, de Orat. 28, 29. 
Plut. Cat. Maj. 20, specially mentions that Cato was nursed and 
tended by his riiother* 

Of the earliest bringing up, very little more is related. It was 
entirely domestic ,• even the parents themselves educated the chil- 
dren, and did not commit them to slaves. They were also very 
careful in the selection of the attendants who were necessary to 
take charge of the children, lest their improper words and incor- 
rect speech should exercise a bad influence. Of this great care 
Plautus speaks, Mil. Glor. iii. 1, 109. 

At ilia laus est magno in genere et in diviliis maximis 
Liberos hominem educare, generi monnmentum et sibi. 

Hence the expression m <7rc?mo matris educari, Cic. Brut. 58,- Auct. 
Dial, de Orat. 28. The state took no notice of this, as that would 
not have agreed with the idea of patria potestas, Plut. Li/c. et 
Num. comp. 4 : yet later the censor could interfere, when the 
state seemed liable to suffer injury by the frequent indulgence and 
effeminacy in education ; Pint, Cat. Maj. 16, 17; Dionys. xx. 3. At 
any rate the state deemed itself bound to look after the schools. 
Cic. De Rep. iv. 3. Principio disciplinani puerilem ingenuis, de qtia 
Greed muÜum frustra lahorarutit, et in qua una Polyhius noster 
hospes nostrorum institutorum neyligentiam accusat, mdlam certam 
aut destinatam legibus aut publice ea'positam, aut unam omnium esse 
voluerunt. Schools existed in early times, of course as private 
imdertakings. The first mention made of them in history is on the 
occasion of the violence offered to Virginia by Appius Claudius. 
Liv. iii. 44 : Virgini veniejdi in forum (ibi namque in tabernis lite- 
rarum ludi erant) minister decemviri libidinis manum injecit. (The 
expression in tabernis can be merely a topographical designation, 
as tab. veteres et novce ; but in Suet. De III. Gr. 18, it is said deindc 
in pergula docuit.^ Dionys. xi. 28. Tavri]v t})v K6pi]v iTciyanov omav 
ißt] OeaadfievoQ "Ainriog KXavhog avayivoJOKovaav tv ypafifiarKrrov — 



Scene L] EDUCATION. 187 

ifv Ce rä SiSarTica\e7a tCjv irawLov -org Tnpl rrjv ayopav. — If this account 
sounds somewliat strange, we are supplied with an example not 
much later, of school instruction out of Rome, Liv. v. 27 : Mos erat 
Faliscis, eodem magistro liberorum et comite vti, simulque plures pueri, 
quod hodie quoque in Gr(Bcia manet, unius curce demandahantur' : prin- 
cipmn liber OS, sicut fere fib, qui scientia videhatur prce cell ere, erudiehat. 
Plut. Cam. 10. The same of Tusculum, in Lib. vi. 25. Plaut. 
Merc. ii. 2, 32 : Hodie ire in luduni occcepi liter arium. But in 
another passage it appears that we must understand instruction in 
the house. Plaut. Jßaccli. iii. 3, 27 : 

Inde de liippodromo et palsestra ubi revenisses domum, 
Cincticiilo prseciiietus in sella apiid magistrutn assideres : 
Cum librum legeres, si imam peccarisses S3dlabam, 
Fieret cerium tam maeulosum, quam est nutrieis pallium, 
is a Greek and Roman custom here mixed : for how does the 
Palaestra apply to Rome, and the second verse to Greece ? 

Doubtless elementary schools existed from this time downwards, 
to meet the wants of the less opulent. Horace, who had been 
brought by his father to Rome, because the school at Venusium 
was of an inferior sort, describes how the boys sauntered to school 
with their satchels and counting-tables. 8at. i. 6, 72 : 
Noluit in Flavi ludum me mittere, magni 
Quo pueri, magnis e centurionibus orti, 
Laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto 
Ibant octonis referentes Idibus sera. 
To such hedge-schools he refers with hoiTor. Epist. i. 20, 17 : 
Hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem 
Occupet extremis iu vicis balba senectus. 
Like Horace, Ovid was also brought with his brother from 
Sulmo to Rome. Martial frequently refers to them. It is, how- 
ever, certain that subsequently the children of the higher and more 
opulent classes received their first education through a tutor at 
home. When Quinct. discusses the question, Inst. Or. i. 2, Utiliusne 
sit doini atque intra privatos parietes studentem continei'e, an frequentier 
scliolarum et velut puhlicis praiceptorihus tradere, and decides in favour 
of the latter, he had not elementar}^ education in his mind. He 
certainly says not jumnes, but pueros ', but his arguments, derived 
from the higher grammatical and rhetorical studies, shew that he 
referred to prcetextatos, and not little boys. But long before this 
time prudent fathers employed teachers in the house to give their 
sons their first instruction. Plin. H. N. xxxv. 14, 40 : Itaque cum 
L. Paulus devicto Perseo petisset ah Atheniensihus, nt sibi quam pro- 
hatissimmn philo sophor urn mitterent ad erudiendos liberos, etc. Plin. 
lipist. iii. 3, says of the son of Corellia Hispulla, Adhuc ilium 



188 EDÜCATIOX. [Excursus H. 

puei'iticB ratio intra contuhernium tuwn tenuit; prcsceptores domi 
hahuit ; jam studia ejus extra Urnen proferenda sunt ; jam circum- 
spiciendus rhetor Latinus, etc. So Oic. p)ro Lig. 7, Hcsc ego novi 
propter omnes necessitudines, qucB mihi sunt cum L. Tuherone : domi 
una eruditi, militics contuhernales, etc., but this must be understood 
only of later instruction ; and so Ovid. Trist, iv. 10, 15. 
Protirms excolimur teneri, curaque parentis 
Imiis ad insignes Urbis ab arte viros. 

The elder Cato instructed his son himself, although he had en- 
gaged a Grecian grammarian, who was the teacher of other boys. 
Plut. Cat. Maj. 20 : Imi d' yp^aro avvdvai, 7rapa\aßu)v avrög ISiduCKe 
ypajxfxara. Kairoi ')(ap'ii.vTa Sov\ov et^^ ypafif-iaTLariiv, uvofxa XikojvOj 
TToWovg ^iddaKovra Traldac. 

It was not till after the subjection of southern Italy, which 
brought the Romans into closer contact with the Greeks, and made 
them acquainted with their arts and sciences, that they felt the 
necessity of having domestic pcedagogi, by associating with whom 
the children might become accustomed to the Greek tongue at an 
early age. This principally happened in noble families, where the 
Greek became the ordinary form of speech as with us the French 
is. Quite after the manner of the present day, Quinctilian com- 
plains that the children were taught Greek, before Latin, their 
mother-tongue. Inst. Or. i. 1, 12 : A Grceco scrmmie puerum inci- 
pere malo, quia Latinus, qui pluribus in usu est, vel nobis nolentihus se 
prcehet : simul quia disciplinis quoque Grcecis prius instituendus est, 
unde et nostrceßuxerunt. We must not, however, suppose that the 
knowledge of the Greek language was widely spread. Many pas- 
sages of Cicero shew that a comprehension of it by the majority 
of people was not to be presumed ; as, for example, Verr. v. 57. 
iöiKMrJijrrav, inquit, h. e. ut Siculi loquuntur, supplicio affecti ac necati 
sunt. In the provinces there were people who acted as interpreters 
to the preetors and others. lb. Verr. iii. 37 : A. Valentins est in 
Sicilia interpres ; quo iste interprete non ad linguam Grmcam sed ad 
furta etßagitia uti solehat. Cicero was accustomed, when he wrote 
anything in his letters which if they should be broken open or fall 
into wrong hands he did not wish to be read, to use the Greek 
tongue. Cicero himself received a complete Grecian education. 
Suet, de Clar. Rhet. 2 : Be hoc (Plotio) Cicero ad M. Titinnium sic 
refert : equidem memoria teneo, pueris nobis primum Latine docere 
coepisse L. Plotium qiiendam ; ad quern cum fieret concursus, quod 
studio sissimus quisque ajoud eum exerceretur, dolebam mihi idem non 
licere. Continebar autem doctissimorum hominum auctoritate, qui 
existimabant, Grcscis exercitationibus ali 7nelius ingenia posse. The 
pedagogues, who were often surly, presumptuous, and ignorant. 



Scene I.] EDUCATION. 189 

accompanied tlie boys to school (pedisequus pueromm), as did also 
a slave on most occasions ; the nutrices likewise accompanied the 
girls, App. B. C. vii. 30, They remained also during the time of 
instruction, Suet. III. Gramm. 23, Hemnius Palcemon Vicentinus, 
7nulieris vetma, primo ut ferunt textrimim, deinde lierilemfilium dum 
comitatur in scliolas, litems didicit. The pedagogues in Plaut, and 
Ter., as Lydus, pedagogue of Pistoclerus in Plant. Baccli. i. 2 ; 
iii. 1, are taken from Grecian models. 

The schools were only private imdertakings, and sometimes 
without even an authority from the state. It has been frequently 
remarked as very strange, that Sp. Carvilius, the freedman brought 
into notice by his divorce, should have been the first to teach in 
Rome for money. Plut. Qucest. Rom. 59 : bypt S' iiplavTo fiiadov 
diSdcTiceLV Kai TTputroQ ävs(^^e ypaufxaToSiSacyKaXeiov "STTopiog KapßiXioc, 
K.r.X. If Plutarch does not altogether err, we must understand 
this of a higher school, which at that time were first introduced. 
Elementary schools had been long before established, and who 
will believe that the teachers therein had taught gratuitously ? 

Next come under consideration the originally sole elementary 
schools of the ludi magistri, or of the literatoi-es and grammatistcs, 
as they were afterwards called, where the children first learnt their 
letters, and then to read and write. That happened, it seems, at 
least from the seventh year of age. Quinct. i. 1, 18 : Quidam Uteris 
instituendos qui tninores septem annis essent non putaverwnt : for them 
th» was too late a period. The gradual steps of the old education 
are related by Varro : educit enini ohstetrix, educat nidrix, instituit 
pcedagogus, docet magister. This primary instruction was, as Plato 
recommended, pursued, if not generally yet to a certain extent, as 
an amusement. To this Hor. Sat. i. 1, 25, refers : 

. . . ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi 
Doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima, 
and further, Quinct. i. 1, 26 : Non excludo nuiem, id quod est notiaiij 
irritandce ad discefiidum infantiie gratia eburneas etiam literarum 
formas in lusum offerre, vel si quid aliud, quo 7nagis ilia cstas gaudeat, 
invenii^i potest, quod tractare, intueri, no7ninare Jucundum est. It ap- 
pears from Quinct. that in learning to read, the method of syllables 
was adopted, whilst amongst the Greeks that of letters appears to 
have been generally used. See Becker's Charides, translated by 
Metcalfe, p. 188. 

In writing they used wax tablets, on which the characters were 
marked (jmerile pr(sscriptum), Sen. Ep. 94 : prceformatiB literre, 
Quinct. V. 14, 31, when the teacher often guided the pupil's hand. 
Vop. Tac: Quibus ad suhscribendum magistri literarii manusteneant. 



190 EDUCATION. [Excursus n. 

Quinct. i. 1, 27, recommended a means of facilitating the commence- 
ment : Cum verojam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit, eos tahellce 
quam optime iiisculjn, ut per illos velut sulcos ducatur stylus. Nam 
neque errdbit, quemadmodum in ceris, continehitur enim utrinque 
7narginihus, neque extra prcescriptum potei^it egredi et celerius ac 
scepius sequendo certa vestüjia firmahit articulos, neque egehit adjutorio 
manum suam manu superimposita regeiitis. 

Arithmetic was, as amongst the Greeks, generally carried on in 
two ways, either by making signs with the fingers, each denoting a 
certain figure, hence Cic. ad Att. v. 21 : hoc quid inter sit, si tuos 
digitos novi, certes hahes suhductu7n. Ovid, ex P. ii. 3, 18 : 

At reditus jam qiiisque sues amat et sibi quid sit 
Utile, sollicitis supputat articulis. 
Plut. Apojjth. reg. Orat. p. 691 : Kaöä-n-ep «i nov api9^i]TiKibv MktvXoi 
vvv ixev fivpiddac, vvv ce {xovci^aQ rifsvai Ivvavrai. Or by a COUnting- 
table and stones, abacus and calculi. On this table perpendicular 
lines were drawn, and the value of the stone was according to the 
division in which it was placed. See Becker's Charicles, translated 
by Metcalfe, p. 188. Alciphr. JEjjist. 20 : i>t inpi rag xp)]!ovc kuI twv 
caicTvXüJV Tug icap-ijjuc. Particular value was set upon counting, 
hence Hor. ad Pis. 323, complains : 

Romani pueri longis rationibus assem 
Discunt in partes centum diducere : dicat 
Filius Albini : si de quincunee remota est 
Uncia, quid superat ? Poteras dixisse triens : Eu ! 4 
Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia, quid fit ? 
Semis. 
We know not whether Horace referred to instruction in arithmetic in 
the description of the school at Venusia. Sat. i. 6, 72. Schol. Cruq. 
explained tabula as a counting-board (abacus), and loculi have been 
taken for the bags which held the stones. But Hermann describes 
tabula as a writing-table generally, and loculi, pockets for school 
utensils. It was not usual in Rome for the children of substantial 
parents to carry their own books and writing materials to school, 
lor which purpose there were special slaves, capsarii, Juv. x. 117 : 

Quem sequitur custos augustse vernula capsse. 
Suet. JVer. 36 : Constat quosdam cum pcedagogis et cc^psariis uno 
prandio necatos. 

Such schools were usually managed by one teacher, who how- 
ever occasionally had an assistant, hypodidasculus. Cic. ad Fam. 
ix. 18 : Sella tibi erit in ludo tanquam hypodidasculo proxima : earn 
p)ulvinus seqüetur. This might, perhaps, moan a scholar of more 
mature age, who assisted the master j so is the sella proxima best 



Scene!.] EDUCATION". 191 

explained. Afterwards tliere were particular teacLers for writing 
and arithmetic. Mart. x. 62 : 

Nee calculator nee notarius velox 
Majore quisquam circulo coronetur. 
In the edict of Diocletian, p. 22, the magister was distinct from the 
calculator. 

These elementary teachers, or ludi magistri, were not celebrated 
for their humanity. Blows were a very common mode of punish- 
ment, and the masters were represented as clamosi and plagosi. 
Martial, who lived in the neighhourhood of one, at the pila Tibur- 
tina in the seventh district, the present Piazza Barherina, says, ix. 63 : 
Quid tibi nobiscum est ? ludi scelerate magister, 

In visum pueris virgiuibusque caput ? 
Nondum cristati rupere silentia gaUi, 
Murmure jam ssevo verberibusque tonas. 



xii. 57 
v. 84: 



Negant vitam ludi magistri mane, nocte pistores. 



Jam tristis nucibus puer relictis 
Clamoso revocatur a magistro. 
The name of Orbilius Pupillus, whom Horace, whose teaclier he 
had been, calls plagosum, is specially infamous, i/?. ii. 1, 70. Suet. 
de III. Gr. 9 : Fuit autem naturce acerhce non modo in antisophistas, 
quos omni sei-mone laceravity sed etiam in disciptulos, ut Eoratius 
significat, plagosum eum appeUans, et Domitius Marsus scribens : 

Si quos Orbilius ferula scutieaque cecidit. 
Quinct. i. 3 : Ccsdi vero discejites, quamquam et receptum sit et Cliry- 
sippus non imp?-obet, mini?ne velim. The fenda was the general in- 
strument of punishment, the stalk of the ferula commujiis, vapOifi. 
Isidor. xvii. 9. a feriendo fei'ulam dicunt, hac enim pueri vapidare 
solent. Mart. x. 62. ferulceque tiistes, sceptra pcedagogorum. Juv. 
i. 15. manum feridoi subduximus. 

After the boy had learned the elements, he attended the schools 
of the grammarians and still higher rhetoricians. Appul. Flor. 20 : 
Prima cratera literatoris ruditatem eximit, secunda grammatici doc- 
trina instruit, tertia rhetoris eloquentia armat. Here the instruction 
was doubtless less theoretical than practical. For the formation of 
the mind and disposition and taste, certain poets were explained 
(Cic. Tmc. ii. 2), in early times, chiefly Greek, as Homer, with whom 
they began, and this continued later also. Hir. Ep. ii, 2, 42 : 
Eomse nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri, 
Iratus Graiis qiiantum nocuisset Achilles. 
Plin. Ep. ii. 14, sic in for o puer os a centum vir alibus causis auspicariy 
ut ab Homero in scholis. 



192 EDUCATION [Excursus IT. 

The masterpieces of Roman literature were also adopted, as 
Virgil, Suet, de III Gram. 16 ; Qiiinct. i. 8, 5. Prose writers were 
also selected, as Cicero, wHcli follows from the commentaries of 
Asconius. ^ilsop's Fables, which Qninctilian, i. 8, recommends as 
mental exercises, were commonly used at first. Orthography and 
the rules of Grammar were often dictated as exercises. Hor. Ep. 
ii. 1, 69: 

Non equidem insector delendave carmina Livi 

Esse reor, memini quae plagosum mihi parvo 

Orbiliiun dictare. 
Dictation lessons were also frequently learnt by heart. Cic. ad Qu. 
fr. iii. 1, 4 : Meam (orationem) in ilium pueri omnes tanquam dictata 
perdiscant. As with us the Ten Commandments are learnt by beart, 
the leges duodecim Tahularum were by the Roman boys. Cic. de 
Leg. ii. 23 : Discebamus enim piiei'i duodecim^ ut carmen necessarium, 
quasjam nemo discit. It is curious that tlie mode of instruction of 
the Latin rhetoricians, when they began to teach, incurred the 
public disapproval, or at least the censure of a portion of the poli- 
tical powers. In the year 662, the censors Cn. Domitius ^Enobarbus 
and L. Licinius Crassus, according to Suet, de CI. Rhet. 1, thus 
expressed their disapprobation : Rcmmciatum est nobis, esse homines, 
qui novum genus disciplince institueriint, ad quos Juventus in ludos 
conveniat; eos sibi nomen imposuisse Latinos rhetores: ibi homines 
adolescentulos totos dies desidere. Majores nostri qucB liber os suos dis- 
cere et quos in ludos itare vellent, instituerunt. Ucee nova, qucs prceter 
consuetudinem ac morem majorum ßunt, neque placent, neque recte 
videntur. Quapropter et iis qui eos ludos habent et iis qui eo venire 
consueverunt, videtur faciendum ut ostendamus nostram sententiam ; 
nobis non placere. The same edict is also in Gell. xv. 11, and we 
learn from Auct. Dial, de Cans. cor. Eloq. 35, that this disappro- 
bation arose principally from the sophistical nature of the instruc- 
tion : At nunc adolescentuli nostri deducuntur in scenas scholasticorum, 
qui rhetores vocantur, quos paulo ante Ciceronis tempora exstitisse 
(Cicero was born 648, and the edict followed in 662 ; the time also 
agrees with this, and with the account of Suet, de CI. Rhet. 2) nee 
placuisse majoribus nostris, ex eo manifestum est, quod L. Crasso et 
Domitio censoribus cludere, ut ait Cicero ludum impudentice jussi sunt. 
See Cic. de Or. iii. 24. The boys attended the schools of the 
rhetoricians before they had put on the toga virilis. Ovid says, 
Trist, iv. 10, 15 : 

Protenus excolimtir teneri, curaque parentis 
Imus ad insignes Urbis ab arte viros. 

Prater ad eloquium viridi tendebat ab sevo. 



Scene I.] EDUCATION. 193 

V. 27: 

Interea tacito passu labentibus annis 
Liberior fratri sunata mihique toga est. 

The instruction in tlie schools began very early in the morniag. 
Juv. vii. 222 : 

Dummodo non pereat, medise quod noctis ab liora 
Sedisti, qua nemo faber, qua nemo sederet, 
Qui docet obliquo lanam deducere ferro ; 
Dummodo non pereat totidem olfecisse lucernas, 
Quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset 
Flaccus, et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni. 
Matutinus magister, in Mart. ix. 30, refers to this, as also xiv. 223 : 
Surgite ! jam vendit pueris jentacula pistor, 
Cristatseque sonant undique lucis aves. 

Among the Greeks also instruction began early, and Solon was 
induced to pass a law forbidding schools from opening before 
sunrise. 

In many schools the pupils were arranged in classes, according 
to their ability, especially when they advanced to higher in- 
struction. Quinct. i. 2, 23 : Kon inutilem scio servatuni esse a prcB- 
ceptorihus meis morem, qui quum pueros in classes distrihuerent ; or- 
dhiem discendi secundum vires ingenii dabant. The classes were not 
separated, but only certain divisions formed, which were taught 
at the same time. Rewards were given as early as the time of 
Augustus. So relates Suet, de III. Gr. 17, of Verrius Flaccus: 
Namque ad exercitanda (excitanda?) discentium ingenia ceqxiales inte)' 
se committei^e solebant, proposita non solmn materia, quam sciihe- 
rent, sed et prcemio, quod victor auferret. Id erat liber aliquis anti- 
quus pidcTier aut rarior. 

At certain times— the Saturnalia and Quinquatria — the scholars 
had holidays. The former were originally celebrated on one day 
only ', afterwards on three ; and, as it seems, extended even to 
seven days. Macrob. Sat. i. 10. The latter lasted five days in 
March, and were in honour of Minerva. Both are frequently 
mentioned, as Mart. v. 84 : 

Jam tristis nueibus puer relictis 

Clamoso revocatur a magistro. 
Plin. Ep. viii. 7 : Tu in scholas te revocas, ego adhuc Saturnalia ex~ 
tendo. Hor. Ep. ii. 2, 197 : 

Ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim, 
Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim. 

Syram. Ep. v. 85 : Kempe Minervce tibi solemne de scholis notum est, 
ut fere memores sumtis etia?n j^roeedente cevo puerilitan fcriartim. 





1 9 i EDÜCATI0^\ [ExcL-Ksrs IT. 

It may naturally be supposed also that on otlier holidays, as during 
the Games for instance, instruction ceased. It was not generally 
the case, however, as Hermann supposes, that the Roman youth 
had a four months' holiday in the summer. The frequently quoted 
verse of Horace : Ihant odonis referentes Idihus cera, gave rise to 
this supposition. He hence concluded that the boys paid only for 
eight months' tuition ; and that four, from the Ides of June to 
those of October, were holidays. This being the time of the olive 
and vine season would be well adapted for holidays; this he argues 
is confirmed in Mart. x. 62 : 

Albae leone flamraeo calent luces, 
Tostamqiie fervens Julius coqiiit messem. 
Cirrata loris horridis Scythae pellis 
Qua vapiilavit Marsyas Celengeus, 
Ferulseque tristes, sceptra psedagogorum 
Cessent et Idus dormiant in Octobres : 
-älstate pueri si volent satis discunt. 

On this Rader remarked, Nam a Julio ad Octohrem tisqtie 
scholcs cessabant Hermann's opinion was backed by Orelli and 
Wüstermann. Obbarius and Jahn agreed with Hermann about 
the holidays, but refer Horace's words not to the money paid by 
the boys for instruction, but to sums in arithmetic, and computa- 
tions of monthly accounts, set every month to the boys; so that the 
line in question would be intended to show the sordid, low sort of 
education given the boys, in contradistinction to the higher and 
nobler methods of instruction at Rome. The explanation of Her- 
mann, however, is more probable ; namely, that Horace's meaning 
is this : The boys in the elementary schools in the country bring, on 
the Ides of each of the eight months, their' small payment for 
tuition, csra : which is used in the same sense in Juvenal vii. 217. 
He further hints, in these lines, partly at the lower class of educa- 
tion given in these country schools (loculi and tabula also refer to 
it), as compared with the higher grade of education at Rome 
(artes, quas cloceat quivis eques atqiie senator se7net prognatos), and 
partly to the humbler outward circumstances of the boys (who 
carry their own satchels without any attendant, pay the trifling 
sum monthly, and have only eight months' schooling), as compared 
with the more brilliant condition of things at Rome, where the 
boys have an attendant, pay by the year, and do not remain four 
months away from school; as was the case in the elementary 
schools alone, and which Horace, as well as Martial, alludes to. In 
the higher class of schools no such interruption took place, as will 
presently appear. We are not aware what the pay for tuition 



Scene I.] EDUCATIOX. 195 

amounted to ; at all events it varied a good deal, and in the ele- 
mentary schools was very trifling. Juv. vii. 228 : 

Hsec, inquit, cures, et cum se verterit annus, 
Accipe Tictori populo quod postulat aurum. 

Whence we see that the payments for tuition were made annually, 
at the termination of the school-year ; which probably began in 
March, after the Quinquatria. Juv. x. 114. Ovid (Fast iii. 829) 
addresses the teachers at the Quiuquatria, 

Nee vos turba Deam, censu fraudata, magistri 
Spernite, discipulos attrahit ilia novos. 

The payment was made therefore in March, and not in Jime, as is 
clear from Macrobius, i. 12, where he adduces this fact to prove 
that originally March was the fii'st month of the year : hoc mense 
mercedes exsolvehant magistris. He evidently alludes here to the 
custom of his time. So that the monthly payments, and four 
months' holidays, apply to the lower schools only ; and it is mani- 
fest, from the value the boys set on the few days of the Quinquatrus 
and Saturnalia, that there were not many holidays in the higher 
Roman schools. The vintage and olive harvest would of course 
not cause the boys of these schools, most of whom belonged to the 
better classes, to stay away from school. The line in Juv. x. 116, 

Quisquis adhue uuo partam colit asse Minervam, 
does not refer to the payment for tuition, but to the entrance-fee, 
Minervcd, paid by each scholar. Varro, R. B. iii. 2 ; TertuU. de 
Idol 10. 

The conclusion of boyhood was commemorated, as among the 
Greeks, by a certain solemnity ; the exchanging the prastexta for 
the toga virilis, and called tirocinium fori ; Hor, Sat. i. 2, 16. The 
year when this took place is still a mooted question. Many have 
supposed it at the completion of the fourteenth, and commence- 
ment of the fifteenth year (Vales, on Damasc. de Inst. Cces. Aug. ; 
Ferrar. de re Vestiar. ii. 1. Dodwell, Prcelect. Camden, v. 1 — 6) ; 
judging from the case of Augustus. But this has been disproved 
by Norisius, Cenot. Ptsan. ii. 4. Others, as Gruchius, Salmasius, 
and Manutius, defer it till the completion of the sixteenth year. 
Most critics have declared for the beginning of the sixteenth year. 
According to Boettiger, Be originihus Tirocinii apud Ronumos, it 
took place in early times at the end of the sixteenth year, and 
in later, when the fifteenth year was completed. On the other 
hand, Prof. Klotz assumes that such a year was not at all fixed, 
but that it depended in every case on the father, who introduced 
his son into public life, sooner or later, according to his dis- 
cretion. Each of these three last opinions is in some respects 

o 2 



196 EDUCATION. [Excursus IL 

true. It seems tliat a distinction must he drawn between the 
oldest and tlie later times. In the former, the tirocinium probably 
took place on the completion of the sixteenth year, Liv. xxii. 57 ; 
with this year commenced the duties of military service, and their 
appearance in public generally. Val. Max. v, 4, 4 ; iii. 1, 3. Not- 
withstanding, many assumed the toga yirilis at the end of their 
fifteenth year, as Cicero, Virgil, Persius, Augustus, Cicero's son, 
and, in later times, M. Aurelius'; Capitol. 4; Tertull. de vel. viry. 
11 ; Oudendorp ad Suet. Oct. 8. So that, although in early times 
the rule was at the completion of the sixteenth year, yet, later, 
the close of the fifteenth was most usual. Nor is this contradicted 
by the passage in Cicero, p. Sext. 69 : cui superior annus idem et 
mrilem iiatris et prcetextam populi judicio togam dedit: for it always 
depended on the judicium 2^nt7'is, whether the son might take the 
toga yirilis at fifteen or not ; thus Caligula was twenty years old 
before Tiberius allowed him to lay aside the toga prsetexta (Suet. 
Col. 10). Prior to the emperors it certainly did not happen before 
the fifteenth year ; and even under Claudius, this was on an ex- 
ception. Tac. Ann. xii. 41, virilis toga J^eroni maturata ; he was 
only fourteen years old. Suet. Claud. 43. As a certain year is 
fixed for coming of age, which, however, can fall earlier, if the 
father will it, so was it also with the tirocinium fori at Rome. 
The proper day for the ceremony was the Liheralia, the sixteenth 
of March. Ovid. Fast. iii. 771. Cic. adAtt. vii. 1. It most likely 
began with a domestic sacrifice at the altar of the Lares, where 
the youth deposited the msigiiia pueritice, and dedicated his bulla 
to these deities. Prop. iv. 1, 131 : 

Mox iibi, bulla rudi demissa est aurea collo, 
Matris et ante decs libera sumpta toga. 
Pers. V. 30 : 

Cum primum pavido eustos mihi purpura cessit, 
Bullaque succinctis Laribus douata pependit. 
The youth wore a tunica recta or regilla on the occasion, ominis 
causa. Paul. v. regillis, p. 286. Pliu. H. N. viii. 48. Augustus wore 
on this day, a tunica with latus claims, Suet. Aug. 94. According 
to Propertius, the change of toga took place at home; but a cere- 
mony was also performed in the forum, after the domestic one was 
completed. The toga virilis, now assumed, differed from the toga 
of boyhood, in being white without a purple stripe ; hence called 
pura, Cic. ad Ati. v. 20 ; ix. 17, 19 ; Phil. ii. 18 ; also libera, be- 
cause he now began a freer, less restrained course of life. Boet- 
tiger derives the expression from the connexion with the sacra 
Bacchica ; but as Ovid, who was uncertain about the reason of its 



Scene I.] EDüCATIOX. 197 

taking place at the liberalia, attempted four different explanations, 
without giving this one, surely it would be a very bold step to fall 
in with Boettiger's opinion. Ovid's expression (Trist, v. 777) just 
reverses the matter : 

Sive quod es Liber, Testis quoque libera per te 
Sumitiir, et vitee liberioris iter. 
The toga is not then called libera from liberalia, but because being 
libera, it is given in the liberalia : in this sense only could Ovid 
have used the comparative liherior toga. The expression is ex- 
plained by Plutarch : Tcepi tov ükovhv, C. 1. Ore Twv TrpooraTTÖvTijjv 
cnrrj'Wa^ai, to ävdpsiov äireiKrjrpujQ tiiciriov. Comp. Pers. Sat. V. 30 J 
Terent. Andr. i. 1, 25 ; Mart. ix. 28. The adolesce7is, clothed in 
this dress, was then led to the forum (cleduci in fo?'um), Sen. £p. 
4; Suet. Aug. 26; Com, Tib. 15; Nero, 7. 

As the Romans always set great store upon a numerous escort 
on all public occasions, regarding it as a manifestation of popular 
favour ; so on this, care was taken that the youth should appear in 
the forum with becoming pomp and a crowded retinue ; and per- 
sons of the lower orders, who were not related to the parties, were 
pressed into the service. Cic. p. Mur. 23. Whether the youth 
was introduced before the tribunal of the praetor, is uncertain ; at 
all events, this had nothing to do with his enrolment into the list 
of burghers. Neither was it at all necessary that the tirocinium 
should take place at Rome, Cic. ad Aft. v. 20 ; ix. 7 ; and 19, 
Arpini togavi piiratti dedi. 

jAjfter this visit to the forum, the cavalcade proceeded to the 
Capitol, to offer a sacrifice, App. B. C. iv. 30 ; where by the word 
lepdiQ we must understand the Capitol, as is clear from Suet. Claud. 
2, and Val. Max. v. 4, 4. Cotta eo ipso die, quo togam sumpsit 
viriletn, protenus ut e Capitolio descendit, C. Carhrniem, a quo pater 
ejus damnatu8 fuerat, postulavit. This passage further shows that 
with the tirocinium commenced the entrance into public life, forum 
attingere, or in forum venire. Cic. ad Fum. v. 8 ; xiii. 10 ; xv. 6 ; 
Brid. 88. But it must not be supposed that the zJ^Vo^es imme- 
diately took an active share in public life, or made their essay as 
orators, &c. Doubtless they were entitled to do so, but seldom 
made use of their right. Thus Hortensius was nineteen, before 
he made his first appearance, Cic. Brut. 64 ; and yet (88) we read 
cum admodum adolescens orsus esset in foro dicere. Like as at 
Athens, so at Rome, there was a year of transition or probation, 
during which ih.Q behaviour of the adolescens was carefully noted ; 
and, at least in ancient times, the coltihere hrachium and exercises 
in the Campus Martins were prescribed to him ; as a sign of modest 



198 EDUCATION. [Excursus IL 

demeanour. Cic. jo. Ccel. 5 : Nobis quidem olini annus erat unus 
ad cohihendum hracJdum toga constüuttis, et ut exercitatione ludoque 
campestri tunicati uteremur, etc. Orators, wko wislied to describe 
the character of their opponent, often began a toga pura. Cic. 
ad Alt. vii. 8, accusatio Fompeii usque a toga pura. Cic. Phil. ii. 18. 

At the same time, the young man frequented the forum and 
the tribunals, to fit himself by this means for public life. He was 
often escorted thither under the care of a person of respectability, 
whom his father had selected for the purpose (deducere). Dial. 
de Cans, corr, Eloq. 34. Thus Cicero says of himself, de Amic. 1 : 
Hgo autem a patre ita eram deductus ad Secevolam sumpta virili 
toga, tit quoad possem et liceret, a senis latere nunquam discedei-em ; 
and of the father of Caelius, p. Ccel. 4. 

The education was still not looked upon as complete^ and 
instruction continued to be given as before, though the youth was 
now rather a listener than a pupil, and it stood entirely at his 
option what rhetorician or philosopher he might choose to attend. 
Cic. Brut. 89, and Ovid. Tr. iv. 29, et studium nobis, quodfuit ante, 
manet. After the subjugation of Greece, it was not uncommon for 
persons who wished to give their sons a more polished education, 
to send them to Athens. See Cicero ad Att. xii. 32, where others, 
such as Bibulus, Acidinus^ Messala, are mentioned. So Cicero him- 
self, Brut 91 ; Plut. Cic. 4 ; so Atticus, Corn. 2. Ovid also went 
thither, Trist, i. 2, 77. Horace says of himself, JEpist. ii. 40 : 

Romse nutriri mihi eontigit atqiie doceri, 
Iratus G-raiis quant iim nocuisset Achilles. 
Adjecere bonse paullo plus artis Athense; 

ib. 81. See the following works on Roman education : Ernesti, 
de Disciplina privata Rom. in his Opuscula. Bonnell. de 3Lut. sub 
primis Cces. eloq. Rom. condit. imprimis de Rliet. Scholis. Wittich, 
de Grammatistarum et Grammaticorwm apud Rom. scholis. 



EXCUESUS III. SCENE I. 



THE SLAVES. 



THE third essential part of the Homan family are the Slaves, 
As a body, belonging to one and the same individual, they are 
c,&S\.edi familia. Paul. v. familia, p, 86 ; Ulp. Dig. L. 16, servitu- 
tum quoque solemus appellare familias. Plaut. Mil. ii. 3, 80. One 
slave cannot be called a familia, no more than two, Ulp. Dig. L. 
Iß, 40, ne duo quidem ; though Paul. Rec. Sent. v. 6, 3, says : Fa- 
milies autem nomine etiam duo servi continentur. But this apparent 
contradiction is explained by Cic. pj-o Ccsc. 19. 

In contradistinction to the free members of the family, the 
slaves were called servi ; in reference to their servitude, famuli ; 
and to their proprietorship, mancipia, or usually ^wmj as among 
the Greeks, dovXoi^ oiKkrai, yepaTrovrec, äv5pa.Troda, TraXosg. As Ari- 
stotle, De Rep. I. 3, says, oUia ck tsXsioq ck dovXojv Kai iXevQ^ptvv : 
so it was among the Romans. But though both nations assumed 
the right and necessity of slaves, yet the Greek differed greatly 
from tiie Poman in the use of them. Except in the latest times, 
when Greek customs were superseded by Poman ones, the Greek 
looked on his slaves as a source of revenue. They must work for 
the master as mechanics, and so forth : and he trafficks with their 
industry, or makes them pay him a certain sum per diem, or lets 
them out to others for hire. A few only, viz. the regular oldrai, are 
used as domestics. See Becker's Charicles, translated by Metcalfe, 
p. 273. The Roman knew nothing of this sort of traffic in slave- 
labour. All his slaves were the immediate ministers of his Avants, 
or his luxuries and comforts. 

There is one view of Roman life of which the moderns can 
scarcely form any satisfactory idea : we can hardly imagine how the 
almost incredible number of servants and attendants, kept in the 
houses of the rich and noble to wait on a few persons, could find 
occupation ; nor how the extraordinary division and subdivision of 
labour was prevented from causing far more trouble and confusion 
than it promoted comfort and punctuality. In order to obtain as 
comprehensive a view of the subject as possible, it will be best not 
to treat of the individual classes, as chance may offer ; but to go 
at once through the whole familia, according to its different divi- 
sions, and the avocations of their members. We shall, however, 
only consider the slaves in reference to their domestic arrange- 



200 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

ments, position witli regard to their master, and occupation ; and 
sliall exclude all consideration of the legal part of tlie subject, as 
servitus justa et {njusta, manumissio, etc. 

The Slave-family, considered in this point of view, has been 
treated of by Pig-norius (Z)e set'vis et eorum apud veteres ministeriis), 
Titus Popma (De ojjeris servorujn), and Gori, in the explanation of 
the Columharium lihertorum et servorum Livice Augustce. All three 
treatises are to be found in Poleni, Supjol. ad Grcev. thess. antt. JRom. 
iii. See also Blair, An Enquiry into the state of Slavery among the 
Romans. Edinb. ]833. 

As regards the method of acquiring slaves by the master, the 
general rule laid down {Inst. i. 3), servi aid nascuntur, aut ßunt, is 
here applicable, since the master acquired them either by purchase 
or birth. 

They could be bought also, suh corona, as prisoners of war, 
(captivij jure belli capti), Cato in Gellius vii. 4 ; Li v. v. 22. The ex- 
pression suh corona is explained by two old authors, of a chaplet, 
worn on the head of those for sale. Gael. Sabinus in Gell. vii. 4 : 
and ib. Gato de re Mil., who quotes Plautus : Prceco ibi adsit ctim 
corona, quique liceat, veneat. The explanation of corona militum is 
thus done away with. Slaves were in general sold by the dealer, 
mango, venalitius (venules being opposed to merces ; Plaut. Trin. ii. 
2, 51 : Mercaturamne an venales habuit, tdn rem perdidit ?) who ex- 
posed them openly in the slave market, where they were sold by the 
prceco. They were first stripped, and placed on a wooden scaffold, 
catasta, their feet being whitened, (Tib. ii. 2, 59 : quern scepe coegit 
Barbara gypsatos ferre catasta pedes.) This was only done to slaves 
just arrived, Juv. i. Ill; or they were put on an elevation of 
stone, (hence de lapide emtus, Gic. in Pis. 15 ; Plaut. Bacch. iv. 7, 
17), so that every one could see and touch them, nudare, contrectare. 
See Gasaub. ad Pers. vi. 77 ; Boettig. Sab. ii. 204 ; Sen. ^^^. 80. 
Mart. vi. 66, describes a scene, where the prs8C0,as an incentive to 
purchasers, bis, terque, quaterque hasiavit, the girl who was for sale. 
Those who were on sale bore a tablet on their neck, titulus, upon 
which not only their name and capabilities, but their corporeal 
blemishes, and any vice they might happen to have, were inscribed, 
(yic. de Ofße. iii. 17 : Sed etiam in mancipiorum venditione fraus ven- 
dito7'is omnis excluditur, qui enim scire debuit de sanitate, de fuga, de 
fartis, prcestat edicto cedilium. The words of the edict are to be 
found in Gell. iv. 2. Gomp. Hor. Bpist. ii. 2, 14 ; Prop. iv. 5, 51 : 
. . . quorum titulus per barbara colla pependit, 
Cretati medio qiuim sali ere foro ; 
which last line shows that they were trotted out to show their paces, 



Scene I.J THE SLAVES. 201 

as horses with us. Menand. Fragm. p. 69. See also Sen. Ep. 47. 
The vendor was responsible for the correctness of the account 
giYen, prcsstahat ; Cic. de Off. iii. 17. If he declined doing so^ the 
slave was sold pileatus. See Gell, vii. 4. The same edict also 
forbad ne veterator pro iiovitio veniret. Dig. xxi. 1, 37, Q6. 

The mancipia viliora only came into the slave-market, as the 
most beautiful and expensive were sold in the tabenice by private 
contract. Thus Mart. ix. 60, says of Mamurra, who went about 
the septa, scrutinized everything, and bought nothing, 

Inspexit molles pueros oculisque comedit ; 

Non hos quos primae prostituere casse, 
Sed quos arcanse servant tabulata catastse, 

Et quos non popxilus, nee mea turba videt. 

The price of such slaves was sometimes immense. In Hor. 
Epist. ii. 2, 5, a favourite slave is put up at 8,000 H. S., sixty-four 
pounds ; while Martial, i. 59, and xi. 70, mentions, pueros centenis 
millibus emtos (eight hundred pounds), and iii. 62, centenis quod 
emis pueros et scepe ducenis. Comp. Sen. Epist. 27 ; Gell. xv. 19. 

The Romans, like the Greeks, obtained most of their slaves from 
Asia. Syrians, Lydians, Carians, Mysians, and especially Cappado- 
cians, are mentioned. See Cicero's humorous description of the 
four chief countries of Asia, p. Flacco, 27 : Quis unquani Gr<^cus 
comoediam scripisit, in qua servus p?^imartwi partium non Lydus esset ? 
Ib. pro Quint. 6. e Gallia pueros. But these slaves, of Celtic or Ger- 
manic origin, were usually employed in agriculture ; Varro, R. E. 
1, 1 : Gain appositissimi ad jumenta. Negroes, JEthiopes, were ar- 
ticles of luxury. Mart. vii. 87 : fruitier Canius ^thiope. Under the 
emperors, Iv umidians were used as outriders. Their native country 
was always announced at the sale. Ulp. Dig. xxi. I, 31. 

The rule, that a Roman could not be the slave of another Roman, 
was more strictly observed than the like principle in Greece. See 
Charicles. An insolent debtor might be made over to his creditor 
(addicere) ; he could not, however, become his slave, but must, as 
the phrase went, be sold abroad (trans Tlherim). Gell. xx. 1, 45 : 
Trans Tiherim venum ihant. Tliis was the case also when a Roman 
citizen was sold by the state. See Val. Max. vi. 3, 4; Cic. de Or. 
i. 40. But the Romans did not hesitate to make slaves of Italian 
prisoners of war belonging to other states. Cic. p. Cluent. 7, where 
Aurius, a youth of Laviiiium, taken in war, becomes the slave of 
the senator Sergius. The Greek rule was, that no Hellene could 
be the slave of an Hellene; the Roman, that no Roman citizen 
could serve another. Plau. Triti. ii. 4, 144. 



202 THE SLAVES. [Excursus IIL 

Venice, seldom vernaculi (Mart, x. 3), were tlie cliildren result- 
ing from the contubernnwi among- the slaves^ opposed to slaves got 
by purchase. In some respects they were yery valuable, as from 
having grown up in the family, they became acquainted with all the 
household matters, and best calculated for discharo-ing- the d uties of 

/ DO 

attendants. Hence Horace {Epist. ii. 26) mentions as a recom- 
mendation verna minideriisj ad nidus aptus heriles. But for the 
same reason they took many liberties, and their forwardness became 
a proverb. Mart. i. 42, x. 3 ; Heind. ad. Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 66 : vern(^ 
procaces. Tacit. Hist. ii. 88. Sen. de Prov. i. : Cogita, ßUonim nos 
modestia delectari, vernaculorum Ucentia. Comp, also Heyne ad Ti- 
hull. i. 5, 26, garrulus verna. Hence vernilia dicta are used for 
scurrilia (dicta). Festus, p. 372 : Vernce, qui in villis vere nati. So 
also Nonius, i. 206. Though the derivation of the word is obscure, 
yet its ancient signification was evidently ' native,,' or '■ indigenous,' 
in opposition to '■ stranger.' So Mart. i. 76, calls a real Roman- 
bred, Niimce verna. The name means therefore one born in the 
house of his master j if he changed hands, he was no longer verna 
in respect to the new familia. The corresponding Greek word is 
ot/v-orpt^, explained by the Grammarians as dovXoq oltcoynnig. 

There was no difference in the position of a slave who happened 
to come into a man's possession hereditaie, or by any other means : 
and he was always reckoned either with the emti or verncc. 

The whole body of slaves belonging to one master was divided 
into the familia urhana and familia I'ustica, not simply from their 
different places of residence, but also on account of their different 
occupation. Fest. 166 : Urhana familia et rustica, non loco sed 
yenere distinguitur. Hence the familia urbana might accompany 
the master into the country, and yet not be called rustica. Our 
business at present is chiefly with the urbana. 

The simplicity of the more ancient times was unacquainted with 
such a concourse of slaves (Sen. de Tranq. 8), and even consuls 
took the field accompanied by but few. Appul. Ajiol. 430. And 
of these few, perhaps only one was used for personal attendance 
on himself, whence are to be explained the names Coipor, Lu- 
ciptor, Marcipor, Puhlipor, Qiiintipor. Quinct. Inst. i. 4, 7: In 
sei-vis Jam interdicit illud genus, quod dncehatur a domino, unde 
Marcipores, Fuhliporesque. Plin. (xxxiii. 1, 6), when talJiing of 
sealing up the cells, says. Hoc profecere mancipiorum legiones et in 
domo turha externa ac servorum quoque causa nomenclator adldhen- 
dus. Aliter apud antiquos singuli Marcip)ores Luciporesve dominorum 
gentiles omnem victum in promiscuo habebant. The old-fashioned 



ScENi2 I.] THE SLAVES. ZUo 

manner of attendance at a meal is drawn in lively colours by 
Juy. xi. 145, seq[. 

Plebeios calices et paucis assibus emtos 
Porrigit incultiis puer, atque a frigore tutus ; 
Non Phryx, aut Lycius, non a mangone petitus 
Quisquara erit in magno. Cum posees, posce Latine, 
Idem habitus cunctis. tonsi rectique capilli, 
Atque hodie tantum propter convivia pexi. 

Towards tbe end of the Republic, however, it became very 
different, and it was then considered reprehensible not to have a 
slave for every sort of work. Thus Cicero says in his description 
of the loose household arrangements of Piso, idem eoquus, idetn 
atriensis : and Horace {Sat. i. 3, 12) appears to consider ten slaves 
the minimum, even for one of restricted means, and (in Sat. i. 6, 
107,) talks of the ridicule thrown on Tullius the praetor, because he 
had no more than five slaves to accompany him from the Tiburtine 
villa to Rome. Cic. pi^o Mil. 10 : magno anciUarum puerorumque 
comitatu. Vedius also travels with a great number of slaves ; ad 
Att. vi. 1. But Cicero censures this extraordinary expense in 
servants indirectly, de L^g. Agr. ii. 28. In subsequent times the 
numbers mentioned are almost incredible. Thus Pliny (xxxiii. 10) 
relates, C. Ccecilius Claudius Isidorus testamento suo edixit, (a. tj. 
744), quatnvis multa civili bello perdidisset, tarnen relinquere servoruni 
quatuor ?7iillia centum sedecim. Tac. Aom. iii. 53 ; xiv. 43. Still 
greater numbers are adduced by Wüstemann, {Pal. de Scaur. 228) ; 
but the accounts of Petron. 37, surpass every thing ; familia vero, 
hahce ! non me Hercules puto decimam partem esse, quce herum suwn 
novit. Trimalchio (47) asks a house-slave ; Ex quota decuria es? he 
answers; e qudragesima : (53), an actuarius rends aloud what has 
happened during the last few days on the estate of Trimalchio ; and 
among other things, vii. Kal. Sextiles in prcedio Cumano, quod est 
Trimalchionis, nati sunt jmei'i xxx, puellce xl. This is no doubt an 
exaggeration, but only intelligible under the supposition of there 
really having been extraordinary numbers. Even under the Re- 
public, Crassus did not consider him rich who could not reditu 
anmio legionem tueri. 

Of course most of them were employed on country estates (Plin. 
H. N. xvii.) ; but hundreds were in the familia urbana ; and, for 
the purpose of superintendence, it was necessary that they should 
be divided into decurice ; but there were several particular classes, 
which ranked higher or lower, according to the functions assigned 
them. These classes were the ordinarii, (wdth their vicarii), vul- 
gares, mediastini, quales-quales ; at least tlley are thus distinguished 



204 * TPIE SLAVES, [Excursus III. 

by Ulpian, Dig. xlvii. 10, 15, Multum interest, qualis servus sit ; bona 
frugi, ordina7'iuSy dispensatory an vero vidgaris, vel mediastinus, an 
qualisqualis. 

OHDINAEII 

appear to have been tbose upper slaves (Jionestior, Cic. Parod. v. 2,) 
who superintended certain departments of the household; they 
were placed above the others (cceteris prcefecti erant) ; and had thei 
own slaves or vicarii, who were their own peculiunij got by their 
own economy, Hor. Sat. ii. 7, 79 : Vicarius est, qui servo par et. 
Comp. Martial ii. 18, 7, where the poet gives his patron notice, that 
he shall intermit his opera togata, because the other has also a rex. 
Esse sat est servum ; Jam nolo vicaritis esse. These vicarii existed 
at an early period. Plaut. Asin. ii. 4, 28, scio mihi vicarium esse, and 
Cic. ( Verr. iii. 28), where he wishes to mark the vilitas of Diog- 
notus, a servtis publicus, says vicarium mdlum habet, nihil omnino 
peculii. The footing was similar when the master himself gave 
the Ordinarius a slave as his immediate subordinate, who assisted 
him in his avocation, or supplied his place. The difference being, 
that the Ordinarius Tvas responsible for the vicarius to his master. 
Plaut. 3Zil. iii. 2, 12, suppromus, so suhcustos. So Ballio, Pseud, ii. 2, . 
13, calls himself Suhballio, the vicarius, as it were, of his master Ballio. 
The ordinarii were persons enjoying the master's special confidence, 
and entrusted by him with the management of his income and 
outlay ; and they appointed and controlled the rest of the family, 
botli in the house and at the villa. Suet. Gall. 12. This^^rocwra^or 
must not be confounded with the like term, so often occurring in 
legal matters : the latter could only be a free man. Dig. iii. 3, 
Cic. p. Ccec. 20 ; De liberis autem quisquis est, procuratoris nomine 
appellatur. But the domestic procurators were slaves or freedmen, 
whom the master intrusted with the care of some part of the 
household. Cic. de Or. i. 58 : Si mandandum aliquid procuratori 
de agricultura autimpei'andum villico sit. Ad Attic, ^ly. 16. Some- 
times the procurator seems to have been the regular steward of the 
property. Pliny, Ep. iii. 19, says of the advantageous situation of 
two country properties, posse utraque eadem opera, eodeni viatica 
invisere, sub eodem procuratore ac pcene iisdem actoribus. Still the 
word procurator does not seem to occur till later, in the sense 
of the person to whom the entire management of the familia is 
entrusted. Petr. 30 ; Sen. Dpist. 14. Quinct. Decl. 345, familiam 
per procuratores conti7ietis. Besides the procurator, the actor and 
dispensator are mentioned. The actor seems to have belonged 
chiefly to the familia rustica, and to have been about the same as 



Scene!.] THE SLAVES. 205 

villicus. Colum. i. 7, ib. 8. Idemque actori prcscipiendum est, ne 
convictian cum domestico habeat. In Scaov. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 20, botli 
actor and villicus are mentioned, as if they were two different func- 
tions. The reason is, that on country estates there was, besides 
the TÜlicus, who attended exclusively to the farming, a special 
accountant also. But the villicus might be actor also. He then 
had a procurator over him , but a villicus, actor, and procurator, 
never existed all three simultaneously. This is clear from Plin. 
Ep. iii. 19, and Colum. i. 6. The dispensator was the cashier and 
accountant, especially in the familia urbana, Cic. adAtt. xi. 1 : Nihil 
scire potui de nostris doynesticis rebus, de quibus acerbissime a^ictor, 
quod qui eas dispensavit, neque adest istic, neque ubi terrarum sit scio. 
But there were also dispensatories of the familia rustica, Pompon. 
Bif/. L. 16, 166. Both are joined by Cic. de Rep. v. 3. The dis- 
pensator may possibly have been under the procurator .iu particular 
instances, but generally himself submitted the accounts to his 
master's inspection. Suet. Galb. 12, ordinario dispensatori brevi- 
arium rationum offerenti. Vesp. 22, admonente dispensatore quemad- 
modum summam rationibus vellet referri, Vespasiano, inquit, adamato. 
So also (Cic. Fragni. in Non. iii. 18), Quid tu, inquam, soles, cumrati- 
onem a dispensatore accipis, si cera singula probasti, summam, quce ex 
his confecta sit, non probaref Comp. Mart. v. 42. Juv. i. 91; vii. 219. 
One of the principal domestics was the atricnsis, who originally 
was the same as the dispensator and procurator. Thus in Plaut. 
Asin. ii, 4, the pseudo-saurea, as atriensis, receives and lends 
money, sells wine and oil, lends plate ; in short, superintends the 
whole household affairs, cui omnium verum herus summam credidit. 
Hence in Pseud, ii. 2, 13, he can be interchanged with the cellarius 
or promus. 

H. Tune es Ballio ? Ps. Imo vero ego ejus sum Subballio. 

H. Quid istuc verbi est ? Ps. Condus promus sum, procurator peni. 

H. Quasi te dieas atriensem. Ps. Imo atriensi ego impero. 

In later times there were doubtless special atrienses, to see that 
the atrium and imagines, as well as the whole house, were kept neat 
and tidy by the other slaves. 

The cellarius, or promus, was he who had charge of the cella 
penaria and vinaria, and furnished the daily supply, and took 
charge of whatever remained. Procurator peni, Plaut. Pseud, ii. 2, 
13. Hence also, condus promus, Plaut. Capt. iv. 2, 115. 
Surne, posce, prome quidvis ; te facio cellarium. 

Upon which tlie Parasite (iv. 3, 1) says, mihi rem sunwmm cre- 
didit cihariam. Comp. Mil. iii. 2, 11, 24, where mention is made Df 



206 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

a suppromus, who stood in mucli the same positiou to tlie prom us, 
as tiie amanuensis did to tlie dispensator. Colum. xi. 1 : Ut cihus 
et potio sine fraude a cellariis prcebeantur. Perhaps lie also gave 
out tlie demensiwi, cihum demensum, to the familia. 

Among* the ordinarii may also be reckoned the negotiotoi-es, slaves 
who conducted money transactions on account of their master, (not 
mercatura. Ernesti, Clav. s. v. negotiator.) See Ohbar. ad, Hor. 
Ep. i. 1, 45. That instances of this occurred in later times cannot 
be denied ; but in more remote periods all qucestus was considered 
indecorus for the ordo senatorius (see Becker, Vmd. Comoed. Bom, 
74), and the equites were themselves the negotiatores, and did not 
employ their slaves for the purpose. 

On account of the great number of slaves, who were no doubt 
sometimes very noisy, it became necessary to have silentiarii, who 
watched over the quiet of the household. Thus Salvian. de Gub. 
Dei, iv. 3, says: Se^'viquippe pavent act07'es,p)cive)it silentiarios,pavent 
procuratores ; ah omnibus c(üduntur. This was written, it is tfue, 
in the fifth century ] but Seneca also alludes to them, Ep. 47, and 
several inscriptions appear in Fabretti, 206, n. 54 — 56, and Orell. 
n. 2956. 

The division of slaves into decurice probably rendered necessary 
an especial decurio, who stood at the head of each of them. Suet. 
Dom. 17 : Decurio cuhicidariorum\ also in inscriptions, Jecticariorum, 
etc. Usually, this refers to the domus Augusta, but these decuriones 
doubtless existed in other houses also. In a Pompeian inscription 
we read, Quceres Fabium et Fallacem (two slaves) in decuria Cotini. 

There were also others in the familia, who worked in the capa- 
city of artisans, especially in the country-houses, and were used for 
scientific purposes, or, as artists, ministered to the pleasures of their 
master. It is uncertain what rank these held, and whether they 
are to be reckoned among the ordinarii ; in any case they were 
honestiores. Cicero (Par. v. 2), says, Ut in magna (stultorum) 
familia sunt alii laidiores, ut sihi videntur, servi, sed tamen servi, 
atrienses ac topiarii, etc. He then opposes to them those, qui non 
honestissimum locum servitutis tenent. 

If, however, it'be taken for granted that Ordinarius and vicarius 
were correlative terms : then these slaves may also be called ordi- 
narii, for they often had vicarii. See Cic. Verr. i. 36: Peculia 
omnizim vicariique retinentur. Cic. p. Pose. Am. 41. The number 
of such slaves was great, but here only a few will be mentioned. 
First come the regular artists : architecti, fabri, tectorcs, statuariiy 
pictures, ccplatores, plumarii, topiarii (ab hortorum cultura), viridarii, 
aquarii (for the last three, see Excui\sus on The Gardens) : next come 



Scene L] THE SLATES. 207 

symplioniaci, ludiones, mimi, funambuli or 8cli(En6hatai^ petauristcs, 
saltatrices, glacUatores ] of a lower grade were moriones^ fatui and 
fatiice, nam and iittnce, or pumUiones. Fiirtlier, those wlio took care 
of the library and works of art : ä hilUothecay a statids, ä pmacotheca, 
and the numerous class of literati, as anagnostce, librarii, which has 
many meanings, notarii, ä studm, a manu or ah epistoHs, to whom 
perhaps appertain the tahellai-ii. Lastly may be named the medici, 
with their different grades. These will be treated of first. 



MEDICI, CHTRUEGI, lATEALIPT.E. 

It was only at a late period that the study of Medicine attained 
to distinction in Rome, and then it was almost exclusively practised 
by foreigners. Pliny (xxix. 1, 6) relates that, according to the ac- 
count of Cassius Hemina, the first Grecian physician, Archagathus, 
arrived in Rome from the Peloponnesus, in the year of the city 535, 
The astonishment, which the art at first excited, was soon changed 
into distrust, and in some cases into aversion, Cato earnestly 
warned his son against the Greek physicians and the study of medi- 
cine ; no doubt many unprincipled acts were committed by them, 
and a considerable degree of charlatanry, at least, can be laid to 
their charge. We cannot therefore wonder that Plautus scourges 
them with jokes of no very delicate kind. Mencechm. v. 3 — 5 : 

Lumbi sedendo, oculi spectando, dolent, 
Man endo medicum, dum se ex opere recipiat, 
Odiosus tandem vix ab segrotis venit. 
Ait se obligasse cms fractum iEscuIapio, 
Apollini autem brachium. Nunc cogito, 
Utrnm me dicam ducere medicimi, au fabrum. 

One has only to read the following scenes to be convinced that the 
physician in this play has been the original of ail the pedantic 
medecins and charlatans of Moliere. Athenaeus, xv. 666 : el nr) larpoi 
ij^av, ovc'iv av Pjv twv ypa/.! nanKiov jxajporepov. Even in the time of 
Pliny, the Romans themselves attended but little to the art, though 
it was, as he testifies, very profitable ; but it was perhaps for that 
reason lowered in the estimation of the old Romans. Nofi rem an- 
tiqui damnahanf, sed artem. Maxime vera qncestum esse immani pretio 
vitcs, recusabant. Pliny gives an interesting account of the relation 
in which the patient stood to the physician, which may be well ap- 
plied to our own times. He says, after remarking that the Romans 
did not follow the science with so much advantage, Immo vero 
auctorifas aliter quam Greece earn tractantihus, etiam apud imperitos 



208 THE SLAVES. [Excursus 111. 

expertesque Imguce non est. Ac minus creclunt, qucB ad salutem suam 
'pertinent, si intelligimt. Itaque in hac artium sola evenit, ut cmcunque 
rnedicum se professo stntim credatur. Nulla prcsterea lex est, quce 
puniat inscitiam, capitale nullum exemplum vindictce, Discunt peri- 
culis nostris et experimenta per tnortes agunt, medicoque tantuni 
hominem oceidisse impimitas summa est. As tlie professional pliy- 
sicians, therefore, were not always looked upon with the most 
favourable eyes, the Romans used to employ trustworthy slaves, or 
freedmen, as house-physicians ; and careful fathers of families also 
collected recipes of the hest means to he adopted in particular 
cases. Thus Cato had a kind of recipe-hook, comjyientarium, quo 
medereturßlio, servis,familiarihus. These slaves were called medici, 
and medicce even are mentioned in inscriptions. Surgery, as well as 
physic, was practised by the medici, as we may see from passages 
in Plautus ; but it is possible that others were specially employed 
in this department, and hence called vuherum medici, vulnerarii. 
In inscriptions of the time of Tiberius, regular chirurgi occur j and 
Celsus (lib. vii.), gives as the qualities requisite : middle age, a 
steady hand, good eye, &c. About this time, physic generally 
began to be divided into difterent branches ; doctors for diseases of 
the eye (ocularii, or medici ab ocidis), as well as dentists, and others 
skilled in the treatment of any particular local disorder, are par- 
ticularly mentioned. Mart, x, 56. 

The iatraliptce were probably at first doctors' assistants, who took 
care of the embrocations ; but in later times they appear to have 
formed a distinct class of medical men. See Plin. xxix. 1, 2. The 
younger Pliny says (^Ejo. x. 4), Proximo anno, domine, gravissi7na 
valetudine ad pericidum vitce vexatus iatralipten assumsi. Respecting 
the tahernm medicorum or medicince (as tonstrince), see Heind. ad 
Horat. Sat. i. 7, 3. 

A second important class of well educated slaves were the 



LITERATI, 

of course, in quite a different sense from what it bears, Plaut. Cas. 
ii. 6, 49. Here it signifies those slaves, of whose literary acquire- 
ments and knowledge the master made use for his own purposes. 
The general meaning of the word is given by Suet, de III. Gramm. 
4 : Appellatio Grammaticorum Grcßca consuetudine invaluit; sed initio 
literati vocabantur. He then gives the distinction between literatus 
and literator, referring us to Orbilius : nam apud majores, cum 
familia alicujus venalis produceretur, non temere quern literatum in 



Scene I.] THE SLAVES. 209 

titulo, seel literatorein inscrihi solitum esse ; quasi non perfectwn Uteris, 
sed imhutum. Previously, however, lie gives tlie explanation of 
Cornelius Nepos (which differs from the above). Cornelius quoque 
Nepos in lihello, quo disfinguit literatum ab ei'udito, literatos quidem 
vulgo appellari ait eos, qui aliquid diligenter et acute scientei-que posdnt 
aut dicere aut scribere : cceterum proprie sic appellatidos poetarum 
interpretes, qui a Greeds ypafiiiaTLKoi nominentur ; eosdem literatores 
vocitatos. The explanation of Orbilius is more appropriate for the 
servi literati. 

In the first place they were used as 

ANAGNOST^, 

also called lectores, readers. Men of polite education used, when at 
their meals, or not in any other manner mentally occupied, and 
even in the baths, to have persons to read to them. Thus the 
younger Pliny relates of his uncle (Up. iii, 5), Super coenam liber 
hgehatur, adnotabatur, et quidem cursim. Meinini quetidam ex amicis 
quu?n lector qucedain perperam pronmiciasset, revocasse et repeii 
coegisse, etc. But then : In secessu solum halinei tempus studiis 
eaimebatur. Quum dico balinei, de interioribus loquor ; nam dum 
distringitur tergiturque, audiebat aliquid, aut dictabat. The same 
person says of himself (ix. 36), Ccenanti mihi^ si cum uxore, velpaucis, 
liber legitur ; and Cornelius Nepos relates of Atticus (c. 16), Nemo 
in convivio ejus aliud aKouufxa audivit, quam anagnosLen. Neque un- 
quam sine aliqua lectione apud eum ccenatum est. Martial frequently 
alludes to this habit, and sometimes with complaints ; for several 
persons only invited him to their tables to read to him their bad 
comedies, iii. 50. Augustus, when unable to sleep, used to send 
for lectores^ or confabulatores. Suet. Aug. 78 j Cic. ad Att. i. 12. 
All the 

LIBRARII 

belong to this class. They were slaves used for writing, hence also 
called scribce, but perfectly distinct from the scribce publici, who were 
liberi, and formed a separate 07'do ; and also from the bibliopol(s, 
also called librarii. Ernesti, Clav. Cic. The librarii again were 
called, according to the use they were put to, ab epistolis ; a studiis : 
a bibliotheea ; notarii. It will be best to explain these in the 
Excursuses on The Library and Letter. 

Respecting the Pcedagogi, see p. 188. 

We now come to those who (frequently in no honourable manner) 
P 



210 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

served for amusement ; for instance, at meals, when the business of 
the day was at an end, and everj^thiug was brought together that 
could serve for recreation. Of course, in the earlier times, such 
pleasures were unknown^ and it was only after the war with An- 
tiochus (when the former simplicity yielded generally to Asiatic 
luxury), that the enjoyment of the repast began to be heightened, 
not only by refinement in cookery, but also by all manner of shows 
and aKpöaixa-a, by artists hired for the occasion, or even kept among 
the regular retainers of the family. Livy, xxxix. 6. Of this kind 
were the symphoniaci, the corps of household musicians, the fre- 
quent mention of whom shows their general use. Cic. Mil. 21 : 
Milo, qui nunquam, turn casu pueros symphoniacos uxoris ducehat et 
ancillarum greges. Petr. c. 33, 47, and Senec. Ep. 54, in comissa- 
tionibus nostris plus cantorutn est, quam in theatris olim spcctatorum 
fuit. Cic. Verr. iii. 44 ; Div. 17 ; Ulp. Dig. vii. 1. This is wliat 
the aliud aKpoaaa alludes to, in the above-mentioned passage of 
Cornelius Nepos. 

To these were added, in later times, ludiones, onimi, funamhuli, 
or schcenohatce, petauristce, saltatrices, gladiatores, and such like ; all 
of whom are found in the house of Trimalchio. They require no 
explanation; but on account of the petauristce, we may quote 
Petron. 53 : Petauristarii tandem vetierunt : ba?'o insulsissimus cum 
scalis constitit, puemmque jussit jjer gradus et in summa parte odaria 
saltare ; circulos deinde ardentes transire et dentihus amplioram sus- 
tinere. These were such arts as are practised by our mountebanks. 
According to Mart. (v. 12), Linus let seven or eight boys stand on 
his arms. Comp. Ter. Hecyr. i. ii. 26. 

The taste for the deformed and i^ioiio, moriones,fatui, andfatuie, 
was still more strange. The moriones were perhaps originally 
regular Cretins, at least the term comprehends not only absurdity, 
but deformity ; and Mart. vi. 39, describes one ; acuto capite et auri- 
bus longis, qucB sic moventur, ut solent asellorum. But their absurdity 
was the chief point ; and the stupider they were, the more valuable, 
as affording most opportunity for laughter. Mart. viii. 13, says, 

. Morio dictus erat ; viginti milibus emi. 
Eedde mihi nummos, Gargiliane : sapit. 

Comp. xiv. 210. Even in Seneca's house there was no lack of them, 
JEp. 50. Harpasten, uxoris tnece fatuam, scis hereditarium onus in 
domo mea remansisse : ipse enim aversissimus ah istis prodigiis sum ; si 
quando fatuo delectari volo, non est mihi longe qucei'endum : me lideo. 
Pretty much on a par with those were the nani and nance, also 
2Ju?niliones, dwarfs, who were especial favourites of the ladies. 



Scene L] THE SLAVES. 211 

Gell. (xix. 13) explains vavovg, brevi atque himili corpore homines 
paulum supra terram exstantes. Stat Silv. i. 6, 57 :^- 

Hic audax sub it ordo pumilonum, 

Quos natura brevi statu peractos 

Nodosum semel in globum ligavit. 

It is true that Suetonius says of Augustus {Aug. 8S), pumilos atque 
distortos — ut ludihria naturce malique ominis ahh&rrebat ; but still he 
had a court-dwarf, Canopas, the pet of his niece Julia ; Plin. H. N. 
yii. 16, where cases are mentioned on purpose for these little men. 
Suet. Tibi 61. The nani differed from the distorti. Suet. ib. and 
Quinct. Decl. 298 j Inst. ii. 5. These monsters used to learn to 
dance and plaj the castanets. Brouckh. ad Prop. iv. 8; 48. Later 
they used to enact fights. Stat. ib. Dio Cass. Ixvii. 8. Bronze 
statues of these abortions are still extant. Gori Mus. Etr. i. 76. 
They also occur in Pompeian frescoes, Casaub. ad Suet. Oct. 83. 
We must also reckon here the Grceculi, or Greek house-philoso- 
phers, if the usage of which Böttiger speaks, Sab. ii. 36, be based 
on good ground, as in that case they would nearly represent the 
Parasitce. • 

Essentially different from these were the class called 



YULGAEES, 

under which name are to be understood those who had one low 
and definite occupation, either in or out of the house. To this 
class belonged, firstly the ostiarius or Janitor, who constantly kept 
watch over the entrance of the house. In ancient times, and often 
even later, their attendance was secured by fastening them with 
a chain to the entrance, Auct. de Clar. Rhet. 3. L. Otacilius 
serviisse dicitur, atque etiam ostiarius veteri more in catena fuisse. 
Ovid, A.mor. i. 161 : — 

Janitor, indignum, dura religare catena. 
Sagittar. de Januis Vett. xvi. 19. Later, however, he dwelt in the 
cella ostiaria, Sueton. Vitell. 16 ; Petr. c. 29. The dog mentioned 
by Suetonius belonged exclusively to the janitor; but besides this, 
like as the modern porter carries his staff of state, so did the osti- 
arius appear with his vii-ga or arundo, though not as mere insignia, 
but in case of need to repel an intruder. Sen. de Const, sap. 14, 
Petr. c. 134 : arundinem ab ostio rapuit, Cf. c. 93. Brouckh. ad 
Propert. iv. 7, 21. 

The assertion of Wüstemann, founded on Tibull. i. 7, 76, and 
i. 6, 61, and Plaut. Cure. i. 1, 76: (Anus hie solet cubitare custos, 
janitrix), that females also served as door-keepers, deserves cor- 

P 2 



212 THE SLAVES. [Excursus TIL 

rection. In Plautus it refers to tlie lioiise of a leno, who o-iiards his 
meretrices with a lejia. So in AppuL Met. i, p. 112, Fotis is the 
only maid in the house, and therefore must open the house-door. 
Again, Tibull. (i. 7, 76) refers only to the bolted door. 
. . . nunc displicet illi, 
Quaecunque apposita est janua dura sera. 

So in i. 6, 61, the mother of Delia is meant, and not ajamtnx: 

Heec foribusque manet noctu me affixa. 
In a Roman house, where numberless clients came to the salu- 
tatio, and viri amplissimi met to converse, a janitrix would have 
been a strang-e appendage. With equally little foundation, does 
Böttiger, Sab. suppose a janitrix in the ante-room of the lady of 
the house. Such a female would have as little right to the appel- 
lation of janitrix, as the cuhicularius to that of janitor. 

Next came the cuhicularii, who had the supervision of the sitting 
and sleeping rooms, and probably when the master was at home 
waited in the ante-chamber. In Suet. Tih. 21, and Dom. 16, they 
are termed cuhiculo prcepositi. They also announced visitors, Cic. 
VeiT. iii. 4. Himc vestri janitores, hunc cuhicularii diligunt ; hwio 
liheri vestri, hunc scrvi ancillcsque amajit ; hie cum vetiit, extra ordinem 
vacatur ; hie solus introducitur, cceteri scepe frugalissimi homines ex- 
cluduntur. From whence it seems clear that visitors were admitted 
according to the order of their arrival. Cic. adAtt. 2. Under the 
emperor there were special servi ab officio admissionutn, in addition 
to the cuhicularii, between whom and the velarii there would seem 
to have been but little ditierence. 

Even when they went abroad without any pomp, one or more 
slaves were always in attendance, hence named pedisequi, who, as 
we learn from several inscriptions, were a particular class, and 
every slave who followed the master was not called by this name. 
S. Gori, de Columb. Liv. Aug. ; Corn. Nep. Alt. 13 : Namque in ea 
(familia) erantpueri literatissimi, anagnostce optimi et plurimi librarii, 
ut ne pcdisequus quidem quisquam esset, qui non utrumque horum 
pulchre facere posset Cic. ad Att. viii. 5 ; Veir. i. 36, circum pedes. 
That fashion required the attendance of slaves, and exempted the 
masters from the performance of even the most trifling exertions, 
we see from Martial ix. 60, 22 : asse duos calices emit et ipse tulit. 

Besides these, Romans of rank used a nomenclator. In the 
times of the Republic, those who desired to attain to high offices 
were obliged to observe many little attentions, not only to people 
of distinction, but also towards the common citizens. Their houses 
were open to the visits of everybody, and when they were out of 
doors they were expected to remember all their names, and to 



Scene!.] THE SLAVES. 213 

say something agreeaWe to them. As it was impossible to recall at 
a moment the name and circumstances of each one, there were 
slaves, whose duty consisted in remembering the names of those 
whom they met, and informing their master. Cic. Att. iv. 1 : ad 
urhem ita veni, ut nemo ullius ordinis Jioino nomenclatori notusfuerit, 
qui mihi ohviam non venerit Their memory became a proverb. 
Sometimes if his memory failed him, the nomenclator substituted 
some false name, Senec. Up. 27 : vetulus nomenclator, qui nomina 
non reddit, sed imponit. In houses where the salutatio was nume- 
rous, a nomenclator was requisite. Sen. Epist. 19 : hahehas con- 
vivas, quos e turha salutatitium nomenclator digesserit. The nomen- 
clator had another function to discharge (Petron, c. 47, and Plin. 
xxxii. 6, 21), viz. that of informing the guests what dishes were 
served up, and making known their several excellences. Comp. 
Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 25, with Heindorf 's remarks. 

The lecticarii were the slaves who bore the lectica, and when the 
custom became by degrees more common, they were important 
functionaries : women were carried in the city, men outside of it 
and in the gestationes. The strongest and most imposing in appear- 
ance were chosen ; Syrians, Celts, Germans, and especially Cappa- 
docians. Sometimes six in number, at others eight, lecticahexaphoros, 
or octaphoros. The custom is described by Lucian, Cynic, 722 ; 
Senec. Ep. 31 : turha servorum lecticam per itinera urhana ac 
peregrina portantium. For other passages, see Tit. Popma, de Op. 
Serv. in Pol. Thes. iii. 1366 ; comp. Lips. Elect, i. 19 ; Bottig. Sab. 
ii. 202. Before the lectica went anteamhulones, in order to clear a 
road through a crowd. These were properly some of the class of 
poor clients, and not slaves. They did not always confine them- 
selves to the customary words, Date locum domino nieo, but occa- 
sionally made room with their elbows and hands, as related by 
Martial (lii. 46), who, in order to escape pajdng continually the 
opera togata, offers to his rex his freedman, who might even serve 
as a lecticarius or anteamhulo. This led sometimes to disagreeable 
collisions. Pliny relates {Ep. iii. 14) : Eques Romanus a servo ejus 
(Largii Macedonis), ut transitum darct, manu leviter admonitus 
convertit se, nee servum, a quo erat tactus, sed ii^smn Macedonem tani 
graviter palma percussit, ut pcene concideret. Thus they went in the 
city, but on a journey the escort was much greater. The use of 
runners or outriders is not peculiar to modern times ; the Romans 
also were fond of this species of display, at least as early as the first 
century after Christ, and the cursores, and Nmnidcs, who ran and 
rode in advance of the rheda or carruca, are frequently mentioned. 



214 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

Thus Seneca (Ep. 87) says : O quam ewperem illu (Catoni) mmc 
occurrere aliquem ex his Trossulis in via diuitibus, cur sores et Numi- 
das et muUum ante se pulveris agentem ! Sen. Ep. 126 : Omnes jam 
sic peregrinantur, ut illos Nmnidarum prcscurrat equitatus, ut agrnen 
cursorum antecedat. Suet. Ner. 30 ', Tit. 9. Martial (iii. 47) says of 
one who takes with him from the city into the country the produc- 
tions of the country : JVec feriatus ihat ante carrucam, Sed tuta 
fceno cursor ova portahat, and of himself (xii. 24), Non rector Lyhici 
niger cabalU, Succinctus neque cursor antecedit. Such luxury, how- 
ever, was unheard of in the times of the Republic ; for nothing can 
be inferred from the figurative speech of Cicero, Verr. v. 41. Still 
something like it is mentioned, Cic. de Hep. i. 12 : Puer nuntiavit 
venire ad eum Zcelium ; this was a slave sent on before to announce 
his arrival. 

We must here make mention of the capsarii, which has a variety 
of significations, as capsa itself is also used in divers senses. 
I. They who took care of the clothes of the bathers, and placed them- 
in the capsa, as thieving: was nowhere more prevalent than at the 
bath. See the commentators on Petron. 30, JBurm. II. The 
slaves who followed the children to school, and carried in a capsa 
the articles required there. Juven. x. 117 : Quem seqnitur custos 
angustm vernida caps(2. They are mentioned frequently in connec- 
tion with the psedagogi. Suet. Ner. 36 : Constat quosdam cum 
pcedagogis et capsariis uno prandio necatos. III. The slaves who 
carried after their masters the scrinium (capsa, Cic. Div. in C<sc. 
16), in which sense they were perhaps equivalent to the scriniarii, 
of whom mention is so frequently made in inscriptions ; although 
under this appellation may also be understood those who were 
• custodes scriniarum. 

The adversitores were not a particular class of slaves. The master 
on arriving at his destination, for instance at the house of another, 
dismissed the jjedisequi, with orders to return and escort him back. 
There is a clear passage in Plaut. Mostell. i. 4, 1, where Callida- 
matas visits Philolaches, and says to the slaves who had accompa- 
nied him, Advorsum veniri mihi ad Philolachetem volo tempori -, 
hence, Phaniscus (who is on this account mentioned in the cata- 
logue of the characters by the name of adversitor, which does not 
occur elsewhere) says, iv. 1, 24 : Nunc eo advorsum hei^o ex plurimis 
servis. Comp. Mencsch. ii. 3, 82*; Ter. Adr. i. 1, 2. There appenrs 
to be no more mention of the custom after Terence ; but, in later 
times, the slaves were retained in the house of the acquaintance, 
particularly at the coena^ when they took charge of their master's 



Scene L] THE SLAVES. 215 

clothes and solece, and stood behind him. Hence the expression^ a 
pedihus -pueri. The custom is clear ; Martial, xii. 88, — 
Eis Cotta soleas perdidisse se qiiestus, 
Dum negligentem ducit ad pedes vernam, 
and other passages; and Seneca, Benef. iii. 26, 27, where two 
instances are to be found : first, that of Paulus, who matellce admo- 
vei'ot the head of Tiberius, which he wore as a cameo in a ring. 
This was a sufficient ofience for the vestigator Maro to found an 
accusation on ; but the slave of Paulus had perceived his intent, 
and drew the ring from the finger of his master (servus ejus, cui 
nectebantur insidice^ ei ehrio anmdum extraxif) ; and secondly, the 
case of a vir ordinis senatorii, who had spoken against Augustus ; 
Tit prinmm diluxit, servus qui ccenanti ad pedes steterat, narrat, quce 
inter coenam, ehrius dixisset. 

We cannot infer from Cic. in Pis. 9, where the name occurs, 
that they had regular laternarii', but it is evident that slaves pre- 
ceded them with torches or lanterns as they went home. See Val. 
Max. vi. 8, 1 ; Juven. iii. 285 ; Petron. 79 ; Suet. Aug. 29 : Sermim 
prcelucentem. 

We have still to mention as slaves, used out of doors, the salu- 
tigeruli pueri of Plaut. Aul. iii. 5, 26, or nuncii, renuncii, Plaut. 
Trin. ii. 1, 22, something like errand-boys ; and the tahellarni, of 
whom more will be said in the account of The Letter. 

The names of the remaining vulgares, who had fixed household 
occupations, either explain their own meaning, or will partly be 
described in the account of the various parts of the household to 
which they belonged. Among these were all those who provided 
for the wants of the table, as pistoreSy dulciarii, coqui, fartores, 
placentarii, tricliniarii, with the tricliniarcha, structores, carptores 
and scissores, a cyatho, or a potione, and so on ; or for clothes and 
ornaments, as vestiarii, vesti/ici, pcBnidarii, a veste, and ad vestetn, 
also vestispici, vestijjlici, ab orna7nentts, custodes auri, ornatrices, cos- 
metes, tonsores, cinißones, ad unguenta, and others. These will be 
mentioned in the proper place. 

It is difficult to say what difference, if any, there was between 
the class of Vulgares and the 



MEDIASTINI. 

In the fragment of Ulpian, quoted before, they are connected 
with the vulgares by a vel, and not opposed to them by an an j and 
the question is, how far they were different from them. They occur 



216 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

most frequently in the familia rustica. Cic. Cat. ii. 8, exer-ciUis col- 
lectus ex rusticis mediastinis ; Colum. ii. 13, posse agrum ducentorum 
jugerum subigi duohusjugis bourn, totideynque huhulcis et sex medias- 
tinis ; id. i. 9, separandi sunt vinitores ab aratoribus, iique a medias- 
tinis. But are also to be found in the familia urhana. Thus Horace 
(Epist. i. 14, 14) says to his villicus, who was formerly a medias- 
tinus in the city, — 

Tu mediastinus tacita prece rura petehas : 
Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea villicus optas. 

Dig. vii. 7, 6, and iv. 9, 1, where he says, Cceterum si qiiis opera 
mediastini fimgitur, nan continetur (edicto), ut puta atriarii^ focarii 
et his similes. Whence it appears that mediastini were vulgares, 
but of the lower class, who were used for all sorts of common 
work, in the rustica as day-labourers, in the urbana as inferior 
house-slaves. They also appear to be alluded to in Cic. Par. v. 2, 
Sed ut in familia qui tractant ista, qui tergunt, qui ungunt, qui 
verrunt, qui spargunt, non honestissimum locum sei^vitutis tenent, etc. 
The etymology given by Aero, and the Scholiast of Cruquius, 
on Hor. Epist.i. 14, 14, qui in medio stat ad qucevis imperata paratus, 
appears not unsuitable, if not correct ; while the second etymology, 
in media urbe (aarfi) viventes, is absurd. Priscian confines the name 
to the balneatores who, as being of the lowest class of slaves, might 
possibly have belonged to them. Nonius, ii. 573, more correctly 
observes that they are cBdium quoque ministri. 

The last class of slaves that remain to be described are the 



QUALES-QUALES, 

who appear to be mentioned under this name only in the passage of 
Ulpian, before quoted : Utrum Ordinarius — an vulgaris vel medias- 
tinus — an qualis-qualis. It was either any slave one pleased, since 
there could scarcely be a class lower than the mediastini, or it was 
a kind of penal class, qualiquali conditione viventes, but did not in- 
clude those who were compelled to labour as vincti, compediti, in the 
pistrincE, lapicidince, ergastula, or I'uri; for these are named immedi- 
ately afterwards, and the ergastida are opposed to the rest of the 
family. Appul. Apol. 504 : Quindecim liberi homines popidus est ; tot- 
idem servi familia ; totidem vincti ergastulum. Comp. Lips. JEl. ii. 15. 
Chief among the ancillce or serves are the ornatrices, who were 
employed about the apparel or ornaments, or in the toilette of their 
mistress ; but their peculiar services will be explained in the Excursus 
on The Female Dress, and Böttiger has already gone deep into the 



ScE^B I.] THE SLAVES. 217 

subject. We must just observe, however, in contradiction to bis 
statement, that neitber tbe cosmetce (i. 22), nor tbe cinißones (i. 144), 
•wire female slaves. Comp. Heindorf, ad Sored. Sat. i. 2, 98, 

POSITION AND TREATMENT OF THE SLAVES. 

The way in wbicb tbe Greeks treated tbeir slaves was far more 
humane tban among tbe Romans. Tbe general notion of tbe 
ancients respecting slaves was, tbat tbey were entirely tbe property 
of tbeir masters, wbo migbt make any use tbey tbougbt fit of tbem, 
dispose of tbem according to tbeir pleasure, and, if tbey cbose, kill 
tbem. Bat, in Greece, tbougbtbe slave bad no political rights, yet 
bis master respected bis rights as a man. So tbat Gai. Inst. i. 52 
(apud omnes percBque gentes animadvertei'e possinnus, dominisin sei'vos 
vitce necüque potestatem esse, et quodcunque per Servian acquiritur, id 
domino acquiritur), is not true of Athens, where the master could 
not Mil his slave, Antiph. de Ccede Herod, p. 727. In fact, he was 
prevented from acts of arbitrary cruelty, by being compelled in such 
cases to sell tbe slave. See Becker's Cliaricles, translated by Met- 
calfe, p. 277. But at Rome tbe case was difierent. Throughout 
tbe Republic, and, with few exceptions, up to the times of the 
Antonines, the master held absolute control over bis slave. He 
could practise the most cruel barbarities on him, or even kill him, 
wdth impunity. So that slaves were looked upon in the light of 
pieces of goods, and tyrannical masters had serious doubts whether 
tbey should be considered as human beings at all. Tbe conflict 
between more rational views and this tyrannical arbitrariness is 
well described by Juvenal, vi. 218, seq. 

Pone cnicem servo. — Merxdt quo crimine servus 
Supplicium? quis testis adest? quis detulit ? audi, 
Nulla imquam de morte hominis cunctatio longa est. 
demens ! ita servus homo est ? nil fecerit, esto : 
Hoc volo ; sic jubeo ; sit pro ratione voluntas. 

Not less significant is the assurance of Trimalchio (himself a 
slave) to his guests, in Petron. 71 : Amici, et servi homines sunt, et 
ceque unum lactem biberunt. And although tbe slave in immediate 
attendance on the master is called bis ho?no, as in Cic.p. Quinct. 19, 
and often in Plautus, still this has nothing to do with bis rights as 
a man. When therefore Sen. de Clem. i. 18, says, cum in servum 
omnia liceant, est aliquid, quod in hominein licere commune jus vetet ; 
this is an appeal to reason and feeling, but does not prove the 
existence of such a relation, which, on tbe contrary, was in later 
times first created by laws protecting tbe slave. Macrob. Sat. i. 11. 
No doubt this stern right was exercised differentlv at diff"erent 



218 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

times and in different familiee ; and its severity alleviated both 
by conscientious feelings on the part of the master, and by the 
usefulness of the slave ; but it gave the hard master an opportunity 
of being cruel with impunity. Hence the description of Petrus 
Chrysologus, Serm. 141, is certainly true : Quidqmd dominus in- 
dehite, iracunde, libens, nolens, oblttus, cogitans, sciens, nescius circa 
servum fecer it, judicium, justitia, lex est. Altogether, the position 
of the Roman slave wa - far harder than tJiat of the Greek ; and 
the reserve of the Roman character effectually prevented all ap- 
proach to familiarity between master and slave. Plutarch (de Gar- 
rul. 18, iii.) characteristically observes of Piso's slave : Ovtujq ^dv 
' Piofidiicug oiKerrjc. 6 6e 'Attikuq tpel t(^J dtcTTvory (Ticcitttoji', bp oig 
yeyovacjiv a'l diaXvcratQ. In more ancient times, when the whole 
family, which consisted only of a few house-slaves, lived in closer 
bonds of union, more intimate familiarity did arise in spite of 
the master's power. The whole family ate in common. Plut. 
Coriol, 24: k^^pijjvro r.oWy TTpog Toi'g oitcsTag iTTiUKtiq, rörf. Cat. 
Mqj. 21. Still the slaves never reclined in company with the rest 
at table ; but there were suhsellia, benches, placed at the foot of the 
lecti, upon which they sat with the children and persons of lower 
degree. The parasites also contented themselves with this place, 
Plaut. Capt. iii. 1, 11 : Nil morantur jam Laconas imi svbsellii viros 
Plagipatidas. Plaut. Stich, iii. 32: Hand postulo equidem me in lec^o 
accumbere. Scis tu 7ne esse imi subsellU virum. Comp. v. 4, 21. 
Hence also Terence at the table of Cascilius, Fit. Terelit. : Adcoenan- 
tem cum, venisset, dictus estinitiumquidemfabulce, quod erat contemp- 
tiore vestitu, subsellio juxta lectulum residens legisse ; post paucos vero 
versus invitatus ut accxmberet, coenasse una. There too sat the chil- 
dren of Claudius at the imperial table, Suet. Claud. 32 : Adhibebat 
omni codnce et liheros suos cum pueris puellisque nobilibus, qui more 
veteri adfidcra lectorum sedentes vescerentur. The subsellia are dis- 
tinctly assigned as places for the slaves by Sen. de Tranquill, ii. 15 : 
Non accipiet sapiens contumeliam, si in convivio regis recumbere infra 
mensam, vescique cum servis ignominiosa officia sortitisjubebitur. But 
this privilege was soon taken away, and the slave was not allowed 
to take his meals with his master, but received a certain allowance 
of the most necessary articles of food, either monthly {menstrua), or 
daily (diaria cibaria) ; this allowance was called demensum. Donat. 
ad Ter. Phorm. i. 1, 9 : Servi quatamos modios accipiebant frumenti 
in mensem, et id demensum dicebatur. Sen. Ep. 80, nevertheless says, 
servus est, quinque modios accipit. But he speaks of players ; and 
Donatus no doubt follows the rule laid down by Cato, who only 
treats of the'familia rustica. The slaves of the familia urbana lived 



Scene I.] THE SLAVES. 219 

better. Cato, R. R. 56, fixes tlie allowance, according to tlie nature 
of the slave's labours, at from four to five modii of wheat per month ; 
wine ad libitum just after the vintage, in the fourth month, 1 hemina 
per diem = 2^ cotKjii ; in the fifth to the eighth month, 1 sext. = 5 
eong. ; in the ninth to the twelfth, 3 hem. = 1 amphora, nearly. At 
the Saturnalia and Compitalia, 1 cong. to each. Oil, 1 sext ; salt, 1 
mod. per month ; besides figs, olives, halec, and vinegar. We collect 
from Plaut. Stich, i. 2, 2, that this allowance was given out monthly : 
Vos meministis quot calendis petere demensmn cibiim ; 
Qui minus meministis, quod opus sit facto facere in sedibus ? 
The joke of the sycophant, who pretended he had been in Olym- 
pus, alludes to this. Plaut. Trin. iv. 2, 202 : 
Charm. Eho, an etiam vidisti Jovem ? 

Syc. Alii dii isse ad villam aiebant servis depromtum cibum. 

An instance occurs in the Mostell. (i. 1, 59), of not only the de- 
mensum for the familia rustica, but even the fodder for the cattle, 
being obtained from the city. Ervom daturine estis, huhus quod 
feram. f Date ess, si non est. To this Tranio replies, Ervo7n tibi 
aliquis crasfaxo ad villain f erat. That a daily distribution was not 
unusual, is clear from the expression diaria, Mart. xi. 108 ; Fueri 
diaria poscvMt. Hor. Epist. i. 14, 40 ; Sat. i. 5, 67 : 

. . . Eogabat 

Denique cur unquam fugisset, cui satis una 

Farris libra foret, gracili sic tamque pusillo. 

whence we see that bad diet often caused slaves to abscond. The 

slave likewise received clothes, tunica and sagum, but he had to give 

up those he had cast oiF; for shoes he received sculponece. 

If the slave could manage to spare anything out of this allow- 
ance, he might thus acquire a little property, to which, it seems, his 
master could lay no claim. Indeed the principle, quodcimque per 
servum acquiritur id domino acquiritur, was not strictly adhered to, 
and the slave could thus earn apeeulium, by means of which he often 
purchased his freedom. This is clear from Terent. Phorm. i. I, 9 : 
Quod ille unciatim vix de demenso sue, 
Suvim defraudans genium, comparsit miser, 
Id ilia Universum abripiet, haud existumans, 
Quanto labore partum, 
besides which the similar passage, Senec. Ep. 80 : Pecidium suum 
quod comparaverunt ventre fraudato, pro capite numerant. Of course 
the slave might acquire property by other means. In Plautus, the 
master lays no claim to what the slaves may have found, or pre- 
tended to have found, as in the Rudens dindi the Aulularia, and with 
which the slave wishes to purchase his freedom. There were 



220 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

often very ricli slaves. See Senec. de Benef. iii. 28, and Petron. 
in the house of Trimalcliio. Plin. xxx. 10. 

The names of slaves were partly borrowed from their native 
country, as Phryx, Geta, Paphlago, Cappadox ; or, mth cruel irony, 
from ancient heroes and kings, as Jason, Achilles, Priam us, Midas, 
Croesus, Castor, Pollux, Lucifer, Hesperus, Ptolemy, Pharnaces, 
Semiramis, Arsinoe, &c. They seldom bore the names of plants, 
flowers, herbs, and stones, as Amiantus, Sardonyx, &c. Orell. Inscr. 
2782. There was no difference between the dress of the slave and 
that of the humble freeman. Sen. de Clem. i. 24 : Dicta est ali- 
quando in senatu sententia,ut sej^vos a lihei^is cultus distingueret : delude 
apparuit, quantum periculum immineret, si sei'vi nodri numerare nos 
ccepissenf. Lampr. Sev. Alex. 27. Tacit. {Ann. xiii. 25), says, veste 
servili, but this only means coarse clothing, such as is worn by slaves 
and humble persons generally. The chief portion of it was the 
tunica, for the working classes could make no use of the toga. 
Hence, in Dial, de Cans. coi^. Eloq. 7, tunicatns popidiis is identical 
in meaning with mdgus. So Hor. Epist. i. 7, 65, tunicato popello. 
The tunica of the lower orders was inferior in quality to that of the 
higher classes, perhaps shorter, that it might not be in their way 
at work (colobiiwi). This opinion is in nowise invalidated by the 
Schol. ad Jul), i. 3 ; for the reading there is doubtful. Concerning 
the livery of the litter-bearers, see Excursus I. Sc. 4. 

Marriage was certainly practised among slaves, but it was only a 
natural right, and entirely distinct from the marriage of free per- 
sons. Hence the terra applied to it was contuhernium, not matrimo- 
nium, and the married pair were called contubernales, Orell. 2807. 
The slave's wife was also called conserva, Orell. 2788. The master 
alone decided which slaves should cohabit vdth each other, Col. i. 
8 : Qualicunque villico contuhernalis mulier assignanda est. It was to 
his interest to see that they had a mutual inclination for each other, 
Varr. R. R. i. 17 : Danda opera ut {servi) haheant conjunctas con- 
servas, e quibus liabeant ßlios : eo enim ßunt ßrmioi^es et conjuncti&res 
fundo; not to mention the profit he derived from the birth of 
vemce. The elder Cato made his slaves pay so much for being 
allowed to cohabit with a female slave, Plut. Cat. Mnj. 21. Some- 
times chance may have brought contubernales together, Orell. 
Inscr. "ISM; Petron. 56 ; Plaut. Cas. prol. 66—74. The contu- 
bernales are often mentioned in inscriptions. See Campana, di due 
Sepolcri, Rom. 1841 ; and Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12 : Contid)emales quoque 
servorum, i.e. uxores et natos instructo fundo contineri, verum est. 

The punishments for the offences of slaves were very numerous, 
and became more severe from the increase in their numbers, and 
the greater difficulty in superintending them, as they became more 



Scene I.] THE SLAVES. 221 

and more strangers to the master. Both Greeks and Komans agreed 
in inflicting corporal punishment on slaves, in contradistinction to 
the treatment of freemen. Hence in a qucsstio, they were always 
put to the torture. The great hardship lay in the master being al- 
lowed to punish his slaves, just at his own caprice. We shudder to 
read the accounts of the treatment they received, often for very 
trivial misdemeanours ; but must not overlook the fact^ that they 
had become systematically demoralized and vitiated for a course of 
several centuries, and that they composed a class far superior in 
number to the freemen, of excessive cunning and audacity, and could 
only be kept in order by the most extreme severity. Tacit. Afin. 
xiv. 41. The milder punishments were, degrading out of the familia 
urbana into the rustica, and into the ergastulum, where they often 
had to work catenati et cojnpediti. Plaut. Most. i. 1, 17 : 
Augebis riu-i numerum, genus ferratile. 
Geta says, Terent. Phorm. ii. 1, 17, with comic resignation: 
O Phsedria, ineredibile quantum herum anteeo sapientia. 
Meditata mihi sunt omnia mea incommoda, herus si redierit : 
Molendum est in pistrino, vapulandum, habendum compedes, 
Opus ruri faciundum, horum nihil quidquam accidet animo novum. 

These were the vindi compede fossores, so often mentioned, e. g. 
Ovid. Trist, iv. 1, 5 ; Tib. ii. 6, 25. They composed a separate de- 
partment of the family, viz. the ergastulum. Col. i. 8, 16 : Ergastu- 
hmi mancipia vincta compedihus. Juv. viii. 180. Those who might 
be disposed to run away were thus secured ; whence the room was 
under ground, Colum. i. 6, 3. These were forbidden under the 
emperors, Spart. Iladr. 18, but were never quite suppressed. The 
reason why these compediti, according to Cato's rules, were better 
fed, was because they had harder work, and could not procui-e for 
themselves anything extra. Hence they had bread, the others 
wheat. The compes was either a block of wood fastened to the leg 
by a chain, or, more commonly, regular leg-irons. Hence the pro- 
verb : Compedes, quas ipse fecit, ipsus id gestet faber. An iron collar, 
collare (like the Greek k\ih6q), and manacles, manicce, were often 
used, Lucil. in Non. i. 162 : Cum manicis, catido, collarique titfugi- 
tivum depoHem. Plaut. Capt. ii. 2, 107. Hence in Trin. iv. 3, 14, 
for oadicrqndcB read collier epidce. The catidits mentioned by Luci- 
lius was also a fetter, derived probably from catena, and containing 
a play on the word canis. Plaut. Cure. v. 3, 13 : 

Delicatum te hodie faciam, cum catello ut accubes : 

Ferreo ego dice. 

And even canis came to be used in the same sense : 
Tu quidem hodie canem et furcam feras. 



222 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

Paul. p. 45 : Caiulus, genus quoddam vinculi, qui inter dum canis ap- 
pellatur. Beating was frequent, at one time with fustes, or virgce 
(uhne<B), hence y«cere aliquem ulmeum. Plaut. Asiti. ii. 2, 96, uhni- 
triba. Pers. ii. 4, 7, ulmormn Acheruns (i.e. in cujus tergo moriun- 
tur ulmese) ; Amph. iv. 2, 9; or with lora : hence in Plautus regular 
lorarii: also with hahencp, Hor. Epist. ii. 2, 15. Hence Libanus, Plaut. 
Asin. i. 1, 21, calls the pistrinum the treadmill, where the slaves under 
punishment had generally to perform some hard labour : fustitu- 
dines, ferricrepinas insidas, zihi vivos homines mortui incursant boves. 
Hence arose the nicknames verhero, or vei-hereum caput. Pei's. ii. 2, 
2, verherea statua ; Capt. v. 1, 31 ; Pseud, iv. 1, 7 ; and the very com- 
mon one mastigia. This punishment was of such every-day occur- 
rence, that many did not fear it, and even joked at it. Thus 
Chrysalus says, JBacchid. ii. 3, 131, si illo sunt virgcB ruri, at mihi 
est tergum domi. So Libanus, Asin. ii. 2, 53 : 

Habeo opinor familiärem tergum, ne qiiaeram foris. 
This vi?'tus and ßrmitudo animi is very humorously described, 
Asin. iii, 2, 3 ; where a multitude of other pimishments are enu- 
merated : 

Scapularum confidentia, virtute ulmorum (?) freti, 
Advorsum stimiilos, laminas, crucesque compedesque, 
Nervös, catenas, carceres, numellas, pedicas, boias, 
Iiidoctoresque acerrimos, gnarosque nostri tergi. 

Plautus makes us acquainted with slave-life on every side. 

Another punishment was hanging up by the hands with weights 
attached to the feet, while at the same time they received blows, 
Plant. Asin. ii. 2, 31. Hence frequently /)e>ic?ere und fe)i?-e penden- 
tem, Trin. ii. 1, 19 ; Most. v. 2, 45 ; Ter. Phorm. i. 4, 42. 

The more severe punishments were branding, executed upon 
the fugitivi and fur es. Letters were burnt in on the forehead, to 
mark the crime, and those who were thus branded were termed 
literati. Plaut. Cas. ii. 6, 49, and perhaps alluded to also in Aul ii. 
4, 46 ; trium literarum homo (either fur, or one branded several 
times) or stigmosi, Petr. 109 ; stigmata is the proper expression for 
these notce. Also notati, inscripti, Mart. viii. 75, 2 ; Senec. de h'a, 
iii. 3 ; Plin. xviii. 3, 4. Whether this mark was a single F, or more 
letters, is doubtful ; nothing can be decided from Petronius, 103. 
The latter appears more probable, as there would otherwise be no 
distinction between /w and fugitimis, although it is true that Cic. 
p. Pose. Am. 20, says of the mark for the calumjiiatores : liter am 
illam, cid vos usque eo inimici estis, ut etiam 07nnes calendas oderitis, 
ita vehementer ad caput ajffigent, etc. The stigmata remained visible 
for life, and many who afterwards became free and rich tried to 
hide them with plasters, spleniis, Mart. ii. 29. Martial mentions a 



Sce>'eI.] the slaves. 223 

doctor, Eros, wlio knew how to efface the traces of former "branding, 
X. 56, 6. 

A very frequent punishment was carrying ih.&furca, but in earlier 
times it was only meant as a mark of ignominy, Donatus ad Ter. 
Andr. iii. 5, 12 : Ignominice magis quam snpplicii causa. Plut. Cor. 
24. Thefurca was much of the form of a V, and was placed over 
the back of the neck upon the shoulders, whilst the hands were 
bound fast to their thighs, Plautus (Cos. ii. 6, 37) : Tu qiddem 
hodie canem et fur cam f er as. Corporal punishment in chains was 
a far severer punishment, Plaut. Mod. i. 1, 53; Liv. ii. 36: suh 
furca ccesum. The furca was also applied to slaves who were ahout 
to be crucified. Patihulum often means the same as, furca ; though 
literally it was the transverse beam of the cross, Sen. Ej). 101 : 
patibulo pendere destrictum. Plaut. Mil. ii. 4, 7 : Credo tibi esse 
eundum actutum extra portam dispessis manibus patibiilum cum hahehii. 
Mostell. i. 1, 52 : Ita te forahimt patihulatum, per vias stimulis. Car- 
nißces went behind and beat or goaded the culprit. The words 
extra portam in Plaut, refer to the custom of inflicting all svpplicia 
outside of the city. It was not the legendary porta Metia, the 
reading of some in Plaut. Cas. ii. 6, 2, and Pseud, i. 3, 97 ; but the 
porta Esquilina, outside of which, on the Campus Esquilinus, was 
the place of execution, and general burial-ground. Tacit. Ann. ii. 
32, extra portam Esqudinam. Suet. Claud. 25; TacH. Ann. xv. 60. 
Death by crucifixion was not uncommon. Plaut. Mil. ii. 4, 19 : 

Nob minitari ; scio crucem futuram mihi sepulcrum : 
Ibi mei majores sunt siti ; pater, avos, proavos, abavos. 

It is also recorded that slaves were thrown into the vivai'ia, to be 
devoured by wild beasts ; and their conflicts with these animals are 
well known. A dreadful case occurs in Cic. p. Clu. : Stratonem in 
crucem actum esse exsecta scitote lingua. When the master was 
murdered by one of his slaves, the law enjoined that all should be 
put to death, Tacit. Anti. xiv. 41. This expliiins Cic. adFam. iv. 12, 
after the murder of Marcellus. Comp. Lips, de Cruce. Extra cruel 
punishments — as hacking off" the hand, especially for theft (see 
Plaut. Epid. i. 1, 11 ; Bekker's Antiq. Plaid. 11), or throwing the 
culprits to be devoured by the Murcence (Sen. de Ira, iii. 40) — were 
exceptions. Hor. Epist. i. 16, 47, non pasces in crnce corvos. Juv. 
V. 216. Originally, slaves only suflered this punishment, hence 
crux and servile supplicium meant the same. The greatest hardship 
slaves had to endure was, that very frequently, for trivial errors, 
or from mere caprice, they were subjected to the most refined 
maltreatment. The ladies were particularly distinguished in this 



224 THE SLAVES. [Excursus III. 

accomplisliment ; indeed tlieir maids who dressed them seldom 
escaped from the toilet without being beaten, scratched, and torn 
or pricked with needles. See Ovid. A?n. i. 14, 13 ; Art. iii. 235 j 
Mart. ii. 66 ; Juven. yi. 491 : 

Disponit crinem laceratis ipsa capillis 
Nnda hiimeros Psecas infelix, nudisque mamillis. 
Altior hie qiiare cinciunus ? Taurea piinit 
Continue flexi crimen facinnsque capilli. 

Böttig. Sah. i. 310, 323. 

But when treated in this manner, the master had everything to 
fear from the vengeance of the slaves; and the truth of Ovid's 
sa3dng (^Met. xiv. 489), so7's tibi pessima remm, subpedibtts tinior est, 
was frequently exemplified. Sen. JEjJ. 47 -, Cic. p. Mil. 22 : De servis 
nulla qucestio m dominos, nisi de incestu. Val. Max. vi. 8, 1. Pliny 
relates an instance of such revenge, Ep. iii. 14 : Rem atrocem Lai-yius 
Macedo, vir prcetoritis, a servis suispassus est, siiperbus alioqiii dominus 
et scsvus, et qui servisse patrem simni parum, immo minimum memi- 
nisset. Lavahatur in Villa Formiana, repente cum sej'vi circumsistutit ; 
alius fauces invadit, cdius os vei'berat, alius pectus et ventrem, atque 
etiam {foedum dictu) verenda contundit, et quum exanimem putarent, 
abjiciunt in fervens pavimenturn, ut experirentur, an viveref. The 
wretch lived long enough to have what Pliny himself calls the 
solatium ultionis. On the other hand, instances are not wanting of 
the truest attachment and noble self-sacrifice for the master : in 
the horrors of the civil wars, for instance ; and Valerius Maximus 
has, in a particular chapter (vi. 8), rescued various incidents of 
this description from oblivion. Macrob. Sat. i. 11. 
. We may conclude these remarks on the Slaves, by alluding to 
the peculiar relation which arose, after the last days of the Republic, 
through the lascivious love of beautiful slaves, who became de- 
graded into an instrument of brutal lust on the one hand, and 
obtained a considerable power over the lord and influence in the 
household, on the other. Whoever wishes to have a more intimate 
acquaintance with the dark side of slave-life, will, in the pages of 
Martial and Juvenal, and elsewhere, find sufiicient proof of the 
depravity ( f the age. 

From what has been said, it is evident that the Boman slaves 
were in the last state of degradation and demoralization. Daily 
maltreatment, while it Lardened them, at the same time caused 
them to despise and detest their master. 

The power of manumitting their slaves was a right enjoyed by 
masters from the earliest times. The slave at once became a citizen, 



Scene I.] THE SLAVES. 225 

provided tiie manumission took place according to the forms of 
law. He afterwards stood almost in tlie relation of client to his 
former master, and usually took his name ; it being the custom 
generally, to adopt the name of the Eoman by whose means any 
one had obtained the rights of citizenship. The freedman often 
remained in his master's house, who was a sort of patron (patronus) 
to him ,• his position now became very diiferent, though, anciently, 
freedmen were treated stiictly, Cic. ad Quint, fr. i. 1, 4 : Lihertis 
quibus Uli non multum secus ac servis imperahant. 



EXCUESUS IV. SCENE I. 



THE EELATIONS, FEIENDS, AND CLIENTS. 

THE entire organisation of a Roman family was perfect ; and 
even the more distant members of it were united with the 
pater familias, or head^ by the closest ties, 

The number of relations was generally large, and, in noble 
families, the degrees of affinity were marked by the imagines, 
which formed a widely-ramified genealogical tree. The legal side 
of the question will not here be entered into. The ancient re- 
verence entertained for the ties of kindred is shewn in many ways ; 
there was the yearly festival of the Charistia, Yal. Max. ii. 1, 8 : 
Convivium solenne, civi prceter cognatos et aßnes nemo interponehatur. 
Ovid. Fast. ii. 616. So again, the duty of mourning deceased 
cognati and affines, and the interdict against marriage within these 
grades ; and lastly, the jus osculi, which allowed the wife to be 
kissed by her own and her husband's cognati ; the kiss being con- 
sidered symbolical of near relationship, Pint. qii. Rom. vi. : 
nvfißoXov Kai KoivMvujxa crvyyevdnc. Val. Max. iii. 8, 6. 

The ancient explanations of this custom are various. Some 
refer it to the old interdict against women drinking wine, and 
assert that the nearest relations sought to convince themselves by 
this means, whether the lady had taken wine or no. Plut. ib. ; 
Cato in Pliti. H. N. xiv. 13 j Gell. x. 13 -, Polyb. vi. 2. 

After the relatives came other friends, whose acquaintance had 
been made either at school or in some other manner ; and, lastly, 
the hospites, or friends abroad, of whom the Roman of distinction 
could boast numbers, scattered all over the world. From the 
earliest times, that beautiful institution of hospitium prevailed in 
Italy as well as in Greece (see Charicles), whereby friends were 
not merely bound to exercise the rites of hospitality, but also to 
afford help and protection to each other in aU circumstances, 
political as well as private. According to the usual opinion (Gell. 
V. 13), the first and most sacred duties were those towards parents 
or wards. He goes on to say, secundum eosproximum locum clientes 
habere, — tum in tertio loco esse cognatos affinesque. Masurius autenx 
Sahinus ' antiquiorem locum hospiti tribuit quam clienti. Verba ex 
eo lihro licec sunt : in officiis apud majores ita observatum est, primimi 
tutelcB, deinde hospiti, deinde clienti, tum cognato, postea affini. 
Whence the relations stood after the hospites. So Cic. Biv. 20 ; 



Scene I.] EELATIOIS^S, FRIENDS, AXD CLIENTS. 227 

Liv. iii. 16 ; iv. 13 ; Plin. Ep. iii. 4. So Liv. i. 45 ; Cic. ;j. Flacc. 
20 ; Suet. Cces. 73 ; Tib. Q>2 ; and tlie descendants always most 
religiously observed the hospitium entered into by their forefathers. 
Hence the so frequent mention of paternus amicus et hospes, e.g. 
Cic. Biv. 20 ; Liy. xlii. 38 ; Plut. Cat Min. 12. At the conclusion 
of such alliances, it was usual for the parties to interchange tesserce 
((TVfißoXa)^ which were preseiTed by their posterity as a mark of 
identity. Plaut. Feen. v. 1, 22 ; and v, 2, 87, where Hanno says : 

mi hospes, salve multum, nam mihi tuus pater, 

Pater tuus ergo, hospes Antidamas fuit, 

Hsec mihi hospitahs tessera cum illo fuit. 
and Agorastocles replies : 

Ergo hie apud me hospitium tibi prsebebitur, 
of. Pseud, i. 1, 53. The bond could not be severed unless by pre- 
vious notice given by one of the parties, Cic. Verr. ii. 36 : hospitiwn 
retuoiciat. Tomasius, de Tessera hospitaliin Fahiicms' Fibliographia 
Antiq., p. 890. 

But a chief class in the Roman domus were the Clients. The 
clientela was a State-institution ; its political significance, and the 
legal points connected with it, are discussed elsewhere. All that 
we have to do with here, is its exterior appearance in the house of 
the patron. 

One of the client's chief duties was the salutatio inatutina, Plin. 
Ep. iii. 12 : Officia antelucana. Early in the morning the client 
repaired to the vestihvhim of his patronus (the word vestibulum is 
by some derived from this circumstance ; see Excurs. I. Sc. 2), for. 
the pui-pose of making his Ave. Senec. de Ben. vi. 34. Dii-ectly 
the door was opened, he entered the ati'ium, where he awaited the 
appearance of his patron. Mart. iv. 8 : 

Prima salutantes atque altera continet hora. 
ix. 100 : et mane togatum Observare juhes atria. Hor. Epist. i. 5, 
31 : Atria servantem. Juv. vii. 91. 

But this was done not by the clients merely, but also by others 
who were far above that rank. Cic. ad Fam. ix. 20: Mane salu- 
tamus domi bonos vivos midtos, qui me quidem perofficiose et per- 
amanter observant. Att. i. 18 ; Sen. Ej). 29 ; vi. 34 : In jjectore 
amicus, non in atrio qu(sritur. There were various classes of 
visitors, Senec. de Ben. vi. 33: primce et secundce admissiones. Cf. 
Stuck, A7itiq. Conviv. ii. 31. The client further discharged the 
opera togata to his patron, by accompanying him out of doors as 
anteambido, see above ; for which he was treated to refreshments 
afterwards. Sen. Ep. 22 : nudum latus, iiicomitata lectica, atrium 
This service, however, originally per- 
ti 2 



228 RELATIONS, FRIENDS, AND CLIENTS. [Excursus IV. 

formed from motives of respect, afterwards degenerated into an 
opera met'cenaria. Not only tlie man of quality, or wbo was l)e- 
loved and respected, but also the undeserving, if a wealthy one, 
wished to see himself everywhere surrounded hy an obsequious 
host of courtiers {clie)itum turha, Sen. jEp. 68). Hence numbers 
of persons were to be found in Rome who used, for a pecuniary 
consideration, to form the court, as it were, not of one, but of 
several persons of wealth and consequence. 

It was their means of livelihood, Juv. i. 119 : quihis hinc toga, 
calceus hinc est, et panis fumusque dornt. Many came to Rome from 
a distance in hopes of obtaining such employment : as the esuritor 
Tuccius, ridiculed by Martial iii. 7, who had come from Spain, and, 
upon hearing that the sportida yielded so little profit, turned back 
again, at the Pons Mulvius, a little distance from Rome. In the 
same manner the poet enquires of Gargilianus, after the spoj-tulce 
were done away with : quid Romce facis f JJnde tibi togula est et 
ftisccB pensio cellce f These persons used to go early in the morn- 
ing into the houses of their domini or 7'eges, hurrying on from 
one to another, Senec. de Brev. 14 : cum per diversas domes meri- 
toriam salutationem circumttderint. A disagreeable task this, for 
the sake of a niggardly sportula, to endure daily discursus varies 
vagumque mane, etfastus et ave potentiorum (Mart. vii. 39), and to 
play the part of the anteamhido tumidi regis. Mart. ix. 101 : 

Denariis tribus invitas, et mane togatum 
Observare jubes atria, Basse, tua ; 

Deinde hserere tuo lateri, prsecedere sellam, 
Ad viduas tecum plus minus ire decem. 

comp. X. 74 ; iii. 46. Many, who received the salutatio of their 
clients, performed, in turn, the part of salütator to others, and 
took away the sportula, Juv. i. 99 ; Mart. x. 10 : 

Cum tu laurigeris annum qui fascibus intras, 
Mane salutator limina mille teras. 

Mart. xii. 26 : How the sportula or recompense was given, is not 
quite clear. Kretzschmar, de Sportulis, Dresd. 1758. Anciently, the 
client was invited to dinner by his patron. Afterwards, when the 
custom degenerated, this was not only inconvenient, but impossible ; 
hence a coma recta, or distribution of victuals, was substituted : 
not, however, to take away, as Buttmann supposes ; for in the only 
passage that can be cited in favour of this supposition (Hesych. i. 
p. 485) the reading is doubtful. Probably this food was doled out in 
baskets, whence the word sportula. But this also proving inconve- 
nient, the coena was changed into money, (rö avrl hinvov äpyvpLovj 
Hesych. ^6.) ; and so it always continued. With the help of the 
accounts given by Suetonius and Martial, the periods of these alter- 



Scene I.] EELATIONS, FRIENDS, AND CLIENTS. 229 

ations may be ascertained pretty accurately. Under tlie earlier 
emperors, the clients were entertained with a regular coena, or 
a cold repast, improvised for the occasion. This is plain from 
Mart, (cited below) viii. 50. In Nero's time the custom arose of 
paying in coin, and that emperor decreed this in reference to the 
publicee coence also. Sueton. JVer. 16 : publiccs ccetics ad sportulas 
redaetce. Domitian reintroduced the old custom, Suet. Dom. 7 : 
sportulas publicas sustuUt, revocata ccenarum rectarum consuetudine. 
He gave sportulae, which in completeness and elegance equalled 
the coena recta, Mart. viii. 50 : 

Grandia poUicitus quanto majora dedisti ! 
Promissa est nobis sportula, recta data est. 
The patrons perhaps preferred feeding the clients, for these gentry 
could not eat dinners in so many places as they were accustomed to 
teceive money ; and thus the number to be recompensed was much 
Smaller. Martial, iii. 7, refers to this time : 

Centum miselli jam valete quadrantes 

Anteambulonis congiarium lassi — 

Regis superbi sportulse recesserunt. 

Nihil stropharum est : jam salarium dandum est. 
i. e. since the money-sportula is done away with, a fixed salary 
(salarium) must be supplied by the patron, in order to enable his 
clients to live. Before this, they had not required it. The stingy 
patron would give his clients common food, while he ate delicacies, 
Mart. iii. 14, 60: 

Ostrea tu sumis stagno saturata Luerino, 
Sumitur inciso mytilus ore mihi, 
ib. iv. 68. From all the passages we gather that the client ate the 
food in his patron's house ; it is nowhere hinted that he took it 
away with him. See also Suet. Dom. 4, where the emperor gives 
sportula cum ohsoniis, and then initium vescendi primus fecit, and 
Mart. viii. 50 : 

Vescitur omnes eques tecum populusque, 

whence it is clear that the food was eaten there and then. But, 
after Domitian, the money-sportula again became the vogue: 
whence Asc. on Cic. Verr. i. 8, explains sportulcB by numorum 
receptacula. The usual value of the sportula was 100 quadrantes, or 
25 asses. Mart. iv. 68 ; i. 60 ; iii. 7 ; x. 74 ; Juv. i. 120 ; although 
many persons gave a much more considerable sportula, (major spor- 
tula, viii. 42.) So Mart. ix. 101. 

Denariis tribus invitas, et mane togatum 
Observare jubes atria, Basse, tua. 
X. 27: 

Et tua tricenos largitur sportula nummos 



230 RELATIONS, FRIENDS, AND CLIENTS. [Excüksüs IV. 

This was, according to tlie old value, 300 quadrantes, or 7^ denarii, 
comp. xii. 26. The sportula was doled out in the vestibulum or 
atrium, Juv. i. 100 : 

. . . Nunc sportula priino 
Limine parva sedet, turbae rapienda togatse. 

and fetched away in the evening by those who had in the morning 
paid the rex their opera togata, Mart. x. 70, 13 : 

Balnea post decimam lasso centumque petuntur 

Quadrantes. 

It was just at the time of coena, Mart. x. 27 ) Juv. iii. 249. When 
therefore Juvenal says (i. 128) : 

Ipse dies pulcro distinguitur ordine rerum : 
Sportula, deinde forum, etc. 

this is an exception, and perhaps effectum pro efficiente. In shorty 
there is much that is peculiar in Juv. i. 117, e. g. the ladies, there, 
fetch the sportula in a lectica, which is elsewhere unheard of. 
Whether, however, as Buttmann supposes, this money was actually 
doled out in little baskets, sportellce, is very dubious ; and probably 
it was only the name of the ancient custom, that had been trans- 
ferred to this distribution of money. But it seems certain, that as 
soon as the salutatio had been omitted, or the other duties of the 
client neglected, the sportula also ceased to be forthcoming. In 
Mart. ix. SQ, the client is not admitted i 

Non vacat aut dormit, dictum bis terque reverse. 

Cic. Verr. iii. 4 ; Mart. ix. 86. 

If the clie^it omitted his officia, not from his own fault, but be- 
cause his patron was ill, he still got no sportula : Mart, iv. 25. From 
which passage we learn, that some patrons did not dole out the 
sportula daily, but only on fixed days. Others again gave the 
sportula more or less frequently, according to the wants of their 
client, or the amount of service done ; but he never came, except 
by invitation, as is clear from the frequent use of the word invitare. 
At family festivals, as e. g. at marriages, the sportula was regularly 
and generally distributed. Appul. Apol. p. 416, where the mar- 
riage took place in the country, ne cives denuo ad sportulas convo- 
larent. This wedding-sportula continued in vogue till the latest 
times, and consisted of a piece of gold to each. Symmach. Ep. iv. 
55 ; ix. 97. The sportula on the day of assuming the toga virilis is 
mentioned by Appul. ih. ] and Plin. Ep. x. 117, where other feast- 
days are recorded. 



EXCUESUS L SCENE IL* 



THE ROMAN HOUSE. 

ONE of tlie most difficult points of investigation througliout the 
whole range of Roman antiquities which bear on domestic life 
is the discussion on the several divisions of the house, their position 
and relation to each other. We might fancy, after all the excava- 
tions in Herculaneum, and more especially in Pompeii, where the 
buildings have been laid open to our view, that the greatest light 
would have been thrown on this point ; but we should greatly err, 
were we to take the houses in the latter city as a criterion of the 
regular Roman house. It is true that they have much similarity ; 
indeed, the habitations of antiquity generally were by no means so 
various in their arrangements as are those of our own times ; for the 
situation and disposition of certain parts were alike in all. Still 
there were many parts belonging to a large Roman mansion which 
those living in provincial towns did not require ; and thus, from its 
being supposed that these remains present a true picture, though on 
a small scale, of what the others were, additional error has crept 
into the matter. 

[Becker goes too far when he asserts that no house in Pompeii 
presents us with the plan of a regular Roman house, and that the 
most essential, and in fact the chairacteristic, parts of a Roman do- 
mus were not to be found in that city ; inasmuch as these were 
required by the Roman of quality only, and quite unnecessary for 
the middle classes, or citizens of the country-towns. In opposition 
to which it may be remarked, that, even in the municipia, there 
were houses not much inferior to a great Roman house, e. g. the 
houses of the Faun, of the Dioscuri, and of Pansa, at Pompeii : 
besides several in Herculaneum, where everything was on a larger 
scale than at Pompeii. Further, those parts only can be termed 
essential which are common to all dwellings of the citizens, viz. 
atrium, tablinum, fauces, cavum cedium, peristyliuni ; and in these 
respects the Pompeian houses are just like the grand palaces of 
Rome, although on a smaller scale. Doubtless, at Rome, there 



* In the Excursuses to the first Scene 
it was found impossible to separata 
accurately the old and new matter, as 



they were so mixed up together. Hence- 
forward all new matter will be included 
in brackets. German Editor. 



232 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus 1. 

were also many saloons besides, as Tinacothecce, Bihliothiccs, and so 
forth ; but none of these are essential parts of the house. What 
led Becker to make the above assertion, was his notion about the 
diflference of the Atria and Cavcedia. Not finding at Pompeii any 
Atria to his mind, he at once pronounced the houses there unlike 
those at E,ome ; and thus the most important results were lost to 
him, which have been obtained from the excavations at Pompeii ; 
since, without them, we are unable to fix the position of the tahlinum 
and th.Q fauces.'] 

Besides, no ancient author has given us a regular account or plan 
of a Roman residence. Our chief sources of information are Vitru- 
vius, vi., the letters of the younger Pliny, and isolated passages in 
Varro, Gellius, Festus, Plautus, Cicero, Seneca, Petronius, &c. But 
Vitruvius instructs us only how and in what proportions to build a 
house ; the position and use of the individual parts could not in his 
day have been a matter of doubt. How therefore could it ever 
have occurred to him to enter into any explanation on the subject 
Pliny again, ii. 17, and v. 6, does not describe a domus urhana, but 
two villas ; although the plan of one of them does not appear to be 
materially difierent from that of a regular house. We must endea- 
vour then, by combining the scattered notices on the subject, to 
throw some light on it, and lay down a plan of a Roman house 
accordingly. 

INSULA. 

It must be borne in mind, that in this discussion about the Roman 
habitation, we refer only to the regular domus — the cedes privates. 
The insula, or lodging-houses, which were several stories high, and 
calculated for the reception of several families and single individu- 
als, must necessarily have been built in an entirely different man- 
ner, and doubtless with no less variety of plans than ours. [The 
large ones had several courts and entrances. Fest. p. 371. They 
were also very high, and lightly built. Vitruv. ii. 8. J Probably the 
word insula meant not only one separate house, but also a number 
of adjoining houses (generally lodging-houses), encircled by a street, 
Paul. Diac. p. 111. This second meaning was the most common, 
Cic. p. Ccel. 7, where Caelius inhabited only a part of the insula. 
The building was under the care of an insularius, who had to let 
the apartments for his master. Afterwards, every separate lodging- 
house was called insula. And this is the reason why there were so 
many insulse and so few domus in Rome ; \iz. above 44,000 insulae 
and about 1,780 domus. Suet. iVtT,38. Niebuhr, on this subject, 



BECKER S PLAN, OR PLAN A. 




opoooooooo 

O I* O 

o I [ o 

o I ° I 

o o 

ooooo ooooo 



UCIC 




I o I 

L._l 



V Vestibulum. 

Ostium or Janua. 

o o Cellce Ostiarice. 

A Atrium. 

a a ^te. 

C Cavum cedium. 

I Imvlvmum. in the centre of which is 



PLAN OF A LARGE ROMAN HOUSE. 

Cistern or Fountain. 



T Tahlinum. 

t f Fauces, or entrance into the PeriMylium, 

P Peristylium, in the centre of which is 

c A Cistern or Fountain. 

K (Ecus Kvfi/ci?v6?. 



HOUSE OF THE TRAGIC POET AT POMPEII, AFTER JAHN, 
CALLED PLAN B. 




Two Tdbernce. 


m 


Study. 


Wardrobe. 


n 


Kitchen. 


Cubiculum. 





Latrina. 


Opening in the cistern. 


P 


Triclinium, 


Apartment of the atriensis and 


X 


Posticum. 


ostiarius. 


The capital letters denote the 


Fauces. 


as in the Plan A. 



'^,i,k,l Dwelling and sleeping-rooms. 



same parts 



I 



Scene IT.] THE EOMAN HOUSE. 237 

cites Dionys. x. 32. [Preller's work on the Koman insulce is tlie 
best.] 

PAETS OF THE HOUSE. 

In" describing the Eoman domus, the house of one of the higher 
sort of citizens, we shall treat in the first place of such parts as had 
their situations fixed and always the same, and formed the skele- 
ton, so to speak, to which the other parts were appended. These 
were the vestihulum, ostium (^Ovpwpuov), atrium, alce, cavum cedium, 
tablinum, fauces, peristylium, 

VESTIBULUM. 

It may be justly doubted whether the vestihulum can with pro- 
priety be inserted amongst the divisions of the house, as it was 
strictly no kind of building. Still it appertained to the area of the 
house, and has besides often been sought for in the house itself. 
Even Marini (Tab. cvi.) has marked the regular entrance-hall within 
the house as the vestihulum ! In the plan given by Stratico after 
Newton something else appears to be meant, yet there also it is a 
space closed in on all sides. On the other hand, Rode, Stieglitz, 
and Hirt, have placed it before the house ; but the front of the 
house formed a straight line, and the vestihulum lies before it, 
covered by a roof sustained by pillars ; a vacant space is thus left 
on each side of it, in front of the house, with which nobody knows 
what to do. This notion of the matter therefore appears com- 
pletely wrong. [Zumpt tries to reconcile the conflicting opinions, 
thus far, that he takes the vestihulum to be partly the space before 
the house, partly the passage between the two walls from the house- 
door to the atrium. It is plain, that the vestihulum lay before the 
atrium, and formed the first part of the house, from Quinct. Inst, 
xi. 2, 20 : Primum sensum vestihulo quasi assignant, secundum atrio ; 
or ix. 4, 10, where the ear is compared with the vestihulum ; or 
Cic. Verr. v. 66, where Italy is called vestihulum Sicilice.'] 

There can be no doubt what we are to understand by the term 
vestiDulum, according to Gellius and Macrobius ; for the former says 
(xvi. 5) : Animadverti quosdam haudquaquam itidoctos viros opinari, 
vestihulum esse partem domus priorem, quam vulgus atrium vocat. 
C. Ccecilius Gallus, in lihro De signißcatione verhorum quce ad jus 
civile pertinent, secundo vestihulum esse dicit non in ipsis cedihus neque 
partem cedium, sed locum antejanuam domus vacuum, per quem a via 
aditus accessusque ad cedes est, cum dextra et sinistra inter januam 
tectaque, quce sunt vice Juncta, spatitim relinquüur, atque ipsajanua 



238 THE EOMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

procul a via est, area vacanti intersita. Hence tlie vestibulum, in- 
stead of projecting before tlie front, receded, and was a vacant space 
towards the street and before the house, and enclosed on three sides 
by the middle main building where thejanua was, and by the two 
wings projecting into the street, tecta quce sunt vicejuncla. Dextra 
et sinistra are to be understood in relation to the Janua. [Yet this 
description refers also to those houses which had not, it is true, two 
projecting wings, but the house-door of which retired a few paces 
inwards, so that a small space was thus made in front, as in the 
house of Pansa, of the Faun, the Centaur, and others in Pompeii.] 
Macrobius says the same, but more concisely : Ipsa enimj'anuapro- 
cul a viaßebat, area intersita, qu<2 vacaret. Sat. vi. 8 5 [and Varro, 
L. L. vii. 81 : Ideo qui exit in vestibulum, quod est ante domum, pro- 
dire et procedere dicitur. It is evident from many other passages, 
that the grammarian's explanation of the vestibulum is quite right.] 
Comp. Plautus, Most. iii. 2, 132. Cic. p. Ccec. 12 : Si te non modo 
limine, sedprimo aditu vestibuloque prohibuerint. lb. 13 ; p. Mil. 27 : 
Ut sororem non modo vestibulo privaret, sed omni aditu et lirnine. 
De Or. i. 45 ; adAtt. iv. 3 ; Colum. viii. 3, 8. Those passages, too, 
which speak of the ornamenting of the vestibulum, are to the same 
point. So Cic. Phil. ii. 28 ; Plin. xxxv. 2 ; [Virg. JEn. ii. 504: 
Barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi.] 

Besides the spolia, there were equestrian statues and quadrigae in 
the vestibulum. Juv. vii. 125 : 

. . . currus aeneiis, alti 

Quadrijuges in vestibulis, atque ipse feroci 

Bellatore sedens. 

[Virg. ^n. vii. 177 : 

Qiiinetiam Teterum effigies ex ordine rerum 
Vestibulo adstabant. 

where Larsch explains vestibulo adstabant by, ^ They stood in the 
atrium towards the vestibulum.' But this interpretation is opposed 
both to the passages above cited, as well as to grammar. 

In the vestibule of Nero's house stood a Colossus, 120 feet high, 
long arcades, and a great basin, 7naris instar, surrounded by the 
wings of the palace, Sueton. Ner. 31 : circumse2ytum cedißciis. So 
Cal. 42, stetitque i7i vestibulo cedium ; and Vespas. 25.] 

The above important testimonies are not to be controverted by 
single passages, where the word vestibulum is either used metapho- 
rically or incorrectly, and which have given rise to the absurd 
notion that it means the entrance itself, or the first room in the 
house. [Thus Virgil, by a poetical license, uses vestibulum of the 



Scene II.] THE EOMAI^ HOUSE. 239 

place for the doors, and for fhe porter, who was just behind the 
door. ^n. ii. 469 : 

Vestibulum ante ipsum primoque in limine Pyrrhus. 

Orvi. 273, and574: 
. . . cernis, custodia qnalis 
Vestibulo sedeat, facies quae limina servet ; 

where the vestibulum first becomes visible after the door is opened. 
Livy (v. 41) makes a mistake when he says that the aged men sat 
Tnedio (sdiu7n, and then in cedium vestihulis, (unless, perhaps, by me- 
dio cedium he means the space between the two wings, i.e. the vesti- 
bulum.), That he was well aware what the vestibulum was, is clear 
from ii. 48 and 49. Lastly, Suet. {Oct. 100) appears incorrect, 
where he says of the corpse of Augustus, equester ordo suscepit, urhi- 
que intulit atque in vestibulo collocavit j for the proper place for 
corpses was the atrium. Still no more is said than that the corpse 
was set down, not that it was allowed to remain there.] The only 
correct supposition, therefore, is that the vestibulum was a free 
space, generally uncovered, before the houserdoor. See the two 
Plans. At all events, certain portions only of it were covered in, as 
when arcades projected over the vestibulum ; as in Sueton. Nero, 31, 
and in the house of the four mosaic pillars at Pompeii, and at Her- 
culaneum. But this was a luxury belonging to a later period. No 
more was there any lattice, separating the vestibulum from the 
street, at least not originally. Cic. ad. Att. 3, does not prove any- 
thing. Vitruvius gives no directions about the vestibulum, though 
he mentions it twice, c. 5, (8), as an essential part of houses of 
persons of quality ; but he says that for people qui communi sunt 
fortuna, maynißca vestihula are not necessary. No vestibulum of 
this kind has hitherto been discovered in Pompeii. 

On the uncertain etymology of the word, (according to Sulpicius 
ApoUinaris, from vce and stabulum=lata stahuhdio), see Gellius and 
Macrobius above mentioned. From Vesta, Ovid Fast. vi. 303. [iquod 
januam vestiat according to Servius ad Virg. ii. 469 ; Nonius, ih. : non 
stabulum, quod nullus illie stet, (as vesanus, i.e. non sawws.)] Comp. 
Isidor. Orig. xv. 7. Vestibulum comes from vestare, in the same 
manner as prostibulu7n from prostare, yet the meaning lies only in 
the particle ve. Originally, this seems to have meant outside or 
beyond, like, in some cases, the Greek irapci ; thus vecors is the same 
as excors, TrapdcpptDv, and so also vesanus. So vegrandis, that which 
is of a larger size than usual ; and it can be easily conceived how 
the particle could thus have had sometimes a strengthening, some- 
times a negative, meaning. Comp. Heind. Hor. Sat. i. 2, 129, where 



240 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

vepalUda signifies ^ more than usually pale.' It is quite evident how 
excellently this meaning suits vestihulum. 



OSTIUM. 

The name ostium denotes the entrance of the house, [Vitruv. in 
Serv. ad. Virg. JEn. vi. 43 ; Isidor. xv. 7,] and is therefore syno- 
nymous with. Janua, fores. [Properly speaking, the chief entrance 
only was called janua. Hence Cic. p. Red. in Sett. 60 : Non janua 
receptis, sed pseudothyro intromissis.'] Cic. Nat. Deor. ii. 27. This 
entrance was exactly in the middle of the house [and sometimes has 
several steps ; Sen. Ep. 84. So in the Palatium, Suet. Ner. 8 ; Tac. 
Hist. i. 29; Dio. Cass. Ixviii. 5 ; and in many Pompeian houses.] The 
separate parts of it are Urnen inferum et superum. Plaut. Merc. v. 
1, 1. [Nov. in Non. iv. 278 ; Isidor. xv. 7 ; Plin. xxxvi. 14, 21, in 
limine ipso quod forihus itnpmiebat. The threshold was of stone j 
among the poor often of wood. The carved garnishing set on the 
door-posts (antepagmentd) always of wood, antepagmenta dbiegnea, 
Paul. Diac. p. 8 ; Vitruv. iv. 6. In many houses at Pompeii there 
are depressions visible on the threshold round the postes, into which 
the antepagmenta were fixed. The two column-shaped projections 
in the ostium, against which the postes and limina rested, were 
called aritm; which name further signifies every corner-column 
('and consequently the columns or pillars standing on both sides of 
the house before the ostium, as in the house of the Vestae, &c. 
The lamps also in Passerat. Lucei-nceßct. iii. 4 ; Isidor. xv. 7 : quia 
ante stant vel quia ante eas accedimus priusquam domum ingredior- 
mur.^ Paul. Diac. explains them as later a ostiorum ; on which pas- 
sage Genelli is quite in error. Serv. ad Virg. Georg, ii. 417, eminentes 
lapides^ vel columnce ultimce. Non. i. 124, qimdrce columnce. Vitruv. 
iii. 1 ; iv. 4.] 

The Romans had a beautiful custom of saluting the person who 
entered, by a salve, drawn in mosaic upon the lower threshold, as we 
see from those found at Pompeii. Over the door, super lim.en, they 
suspended a bird that had been taught to give this salutation, 
Petron. 28. In Trimalchio's house there was much that would not 
be found elsewhere, but the pica salutatrix is mentioned by Mart, 
vii. 87, and xiv. 76, and the parrots were especially taught to say 
Xat|Of. Pers. Prol. 8. 

The postes (properly signifying door-posts, frequently used by 
the poets for the door itself, and even for valvce. See Gesn. ad Claud 
de rapt. Pros. iii. 147) were made of marble or curiously carved 



Scene II.] THE ROMAIS^ HOUSE. 241 

wood [Stat. Silv. i. 3, 35, Mauros postes] (Plaut. Most. iii. 2, 133), 
inlaid with tortoise-shell, like the postes and valvse. The valvse 
were adorned with ivory and gold, hullcB (Plant. Asin. ii. 4, 20 ; 
Cic. Verr. iv. 56), and used in ancient times to open inwards in 
private houses, whilst in public buildings they opened outwards ; a 
privilege granted only to men of especial merit, as a mark of respect. 
See Plut. Poplic. 20- Dion. Hal. v. 39; Plin, xxxvi. 15, 24. Fea 
erroneously supposes that in later times this distinction was not ob- 
served. The tahemce, however, opened both inwards and outwards. 
The distinction drawn, Isid. Oi'ig. xv. 1 , fores dmmtur, quce foras ; 
valvcB, qucB intus revohujitur, is by no means confirmed by custom ; 
for the doors of the temples opened outwards, and yet Cicero calls 
them valvee [Cic. Verr. i. 23 ; iv. 43 ;] the doors of dwelling-houses 
inwards, and yet they are always caUed fores. Comp. Sagitt. de Jan. 
Vett. [Serv. adJEn. i. 453 : Valv(S sunt quce revolvuntur et se velant. 
The valvae consisted of several parts, fastened together by metal 
bands. They were used in rooms which were lighted through the 
door only, and required much light, as in the tahlinuni and large 
tabernae ; see the Tablinum, p. 254, and the following Excursus.] 

The door did not hang on hinges as with us, but was provided 
with wedge-shaped pins, which fitted into a hollow in the upper 
and lower threshold {limen superum et inferiwi), or moved in bronze 
or iron rings. Plin. xvi. 40, 77. This was the case not only in 
the larger house-doors, but also in those of the inner chambers 
there were similar pegs (scapi cardinales, Yitruv. iv. 6, 4,) on the 
folding-doors, and the cavities or rings were on the threshold, or 
on the side-posts. Appul. Met. i. p. 49. This is also evident from 
remains at Pompeii. 

The door was closed during the day, but not generally fastened : 
and in Plautus the strangers who knock, do so only for the sake of 
propriety ; nobody, whether lord or slave, knocks at his own door, 
not even Dorippa and Syra, who arrive unexpectedly from the 
country, Merc.ir. 1. Neither does Stichus, Stich, iii. 1, or Mnesi- 
lochus, Bacch. iii. 4, Theuropides, Most. ii. 2, 14, wonders at find- 
ing the door fastened ; as does Dinacium also. Stich, ii. 1, 36 ; and 
therefore Alcesimarchus has to give particular orders for these doors 
to be fastened. Cist. iii. 18. There is no doubt that bells, tintin- 
nahula, were used, as a signal to a confused crowd, or to collect peo- 
ple together. On their use in the baths, see Excurs. to the Seventh 
Scene. But there, is no proof that there were bells at the house- 
doors. The passage, Sueton. Aug. 91, is no direct evidence, and 
the examples adduced by Casaubon, from Dio Cass, and Lucian, 
only say that the family were awakened or collected by the sound 

R 



242 THE KOMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

of a bell. As o. janitor was generally at tlie house-door, there was 
the less need of such a signal, and most probably only the metal 
knocker or ring, called by the Greeks KOf,wi'ri^ KÖpa'E, pöirrpov, was 
made use of. [It is plainly seen on a lamp, representing the fold- 
ing-door of a tomb, in Passer. Lucern, Fictil. iii. 45. On the fasten- 
ing of the door, see the special Excursus. The doors were seldom 
adapted for driving in at, as it was not usual to drive in the city. 
The postica or small back-door, opening into a side street (angipor- 
tus), was very common, Non. iii. 158 ; Plaut. Stich, iii. 1, 40 : 

... est etiam hie ostium 
Aliud posticum nostrarum harunce sedium. 

Hor. Ep. i. 5, 31.] 

It is extraordinary that no mention is made anj^where of an 
entrance-hall, and yet we can scarcely imagine a house without one. 
Vitruv. vi. 7, speaks only of the hall of a Greek house, which he 
says Greece Qvpujpelov appellatur. He does not mention one in a 
Roman house. Yet Plutarch, Qu. Horn. Ill, says iv ti[) fvpwvi t7]q 
oiKiaQ, talking of the house of the fiamen dialis. Moreover, the house 
must have had a hall, since immediately behind the door was the 
cella ostiarii, or Janitoris, Suet. Vit. 16 -, Petron. 29. Here was the 
dog with the warning Cave canem ; sometimes a painted dog, as 
Petronius relates. Such an one has been discovered at Pompeii. 
See Mus. Borh. ii. 56 ; Gell. Tompeian. i. 142. Hence we may sup- 
pose that the space, probably not a very large one, between the 
outer door and the Janua interior j was included under the name of 
ostium. [Isid. xv. 7, ccetera intra januam ostia vocantur. In this 
space there were holes to drain off the rain-water j and for the 
same purpose the interior of the house was mostly built sloping. 
Forcell. Lexic. 5. v. colluviarium.'] 

ATRIUM. 

The most important question in our examination of the Roman 
house is, as to what is to be understood by the atrium ; and upon 
the reply to it depends the correctness of the whole description, as 
any error in it must give a false plan of the building j for the dis- 
tribution of most of the other divisions depends upon the situation 
and nature of the atrium. On this point there exist two different 
opinions. 

The most common idea is, that it is only another appellation of 
the inner court, cavum cedium. Schneider's does not materially 
differ — that the cavum sedium denotes the whole interior space, 
and atrium its covered portions ; whilst Mazois understands by 



Scene II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 243 

atrium the whole, and by cavum aedium the uncovered space. The 
supposition that they were identical is chiefly based on improperly 
explained passages in Varro and Vitruvius, and on the notion that 
the houses of Pompeii must necessarily have had regular atria. 
The chief passage, the palladium as it were of all maintaining this 
opinion, is in Varro, Ling. Lot. iv. 45 : Cavum (Edium dictum^ qui 
locus tectus intra pa?'ietes relinquehatur patidus. qui esset ad commu- 
nem omnium usum. In hoc locus si nullus relictus erat, sub divo qui 
esset, dicehatur testudo, a testudinis similitudine, ut est in Prcetorio 
in castris : si relictum erat in medio ut lucem caper et, deorsum, quo 
impluehat, impluvium dicttim, et sursiun, qua compluebat, compluvium : 
utrumgue a pluma. Tuscanicum, dictum a Tuscis, posteaquam illo- 
rum cavum cedium simulare cceperunt. Atrium appellatum ah 
Atriatibus Tuscis; iUinc enim exemplum sumtum. Circum cavum 
cedium erant uniuscujusque rei utilitatis causa parietibus dissepta ; 
ubi quid conditum esse volebant, a celando cellam appellarunt ; pena- 
riam ubi penus ; ubi cubabant, cuhiculum) ubi ccenabant ccenaculum 
xocitabant, etc. The words which especially refer to the subject of 
our present inquiry, Atrium appellattim, etc., have been translated, 
*' It (cavum sedium) was called atrium," The question is, By what 
authority ? Varro explains the appellations of all the individual 
parts of the house, and points out their etymology. He defines, — 
as he had before done dornus and cedes, and afterwards tablinum, — 
the terms, cavum sedium, and its species, testudinatum, Tuscanicum, 
impluvium, compluvium, atrium,, cella, penaria, cubiculum, ccenacu- 
lum. But what right have we to refer the name atrium to the 
cavum sedium ? Or rather^ what prevents us from translating, 
^'The atrium has its name from the atriates^'' ? On the contrary, 
Varro had completed the explanation of the cavum aedium, its 
species and parts, and passed on to the atrium. The fact of his 
once more mentioning the cavum sedium does not prove that 
he had been talking of it all through ; and without doing so he 
could not have described the position of the cellce. This passage 
therefore, instead of affording proof of the identity of the atrium 
and cavum sedium, rather shews the contrary. 

Next it is asserted, that Vitruvius has several times used cavum 
sedium and atrium for the same part. We may pass over the stale 
argument, again adduced by Marini, which has been gathered from 
the words in atrii latitudine (b. vi. 3). Schneider has demonstrated 
that it would be absurd to say in atrii latitudine, instead of in 
latitudine, if atrium had meant cavum sedium itself. But another 
passage has more plausibility about it. Vitruvius says, c, 8, Stratic. 
(Schneid, and Marini 5), he will lay down quihus rationibus pri- 

r2 



244 THE EOMAN HOUSE. [Excursus T. 

vatis cedißciis propna loca jycftribus familiarum et qiiemadmodum 
communia cum extraneis cedißcari deheant. Namque ex his quce 
py'opria sunt, in ea non est potestas omnibus introeundi, nisi invitatis ; 
quemadmodum sunt cuhicula, triclinia, haJnece, ceteraque, quce easdem 
hahent usus rationes. Communia autem sunt, quibus etiam invocati 
suo Jure de populo possunt venire, i. e. vestibida, cava cediiwi, peri- 
stylia, quceque eundem habere possunt usum. Igitur his, qui communi 
sunt fortuna, non necessaria magnißca vestibula, nee tablina neque 
atria, quod, etc. From this passage it has been inferred, that 
because cava a^dium is mentioned the first time, and atria the 
second, that they are synonymous ; but the inference is entirely 
false. Igitur his, etc., does not stand as a consequence of that 
which immediately precedes. Vitruvius had only explained the 
meaning of propria et co7nmunia loca, and, after making the trans- 
ition by igitur, proceeded to give the above precepts for everybody 
planning his house conformably to his condition and means. But 
even if an immediate connection existed between the two sentences, 
it would not follow that atria signified cava £ediiim -, for Vitruvius 
did not wish to mention all the loca communia, but quceque eundem 
possunt habei^e usum. And here he names tablina, which did not at 
all belong to the loca communia, but rather to those places which 
ordinary men, having no tabidce, codices, mojiumenta verum gesta- 
rtim in magistratu, to preserve, did not require. The same remark 
refers to the atria, which had not been mentioned above ; but how 
the cava sedium could be omitted in the construction of a house, is 
not conceivable. On the contrary, Vitruvius (c. 4, or 3^ 3), after 
describing the various cava aedium, says, Atriorum vero longitudities 
et latitudines tribus generihus formantur ; thus placing the atria in 
opposition to the cava aedium, for otherwise he would have said, 
latitudines vero atrioru^n. [It is plain that Vitruvius alludes only 
to covered atria, not to open cavcedia with four covered side- 
arcades : for in the latter case the proportions would be absurd. 
Thus, in an atrium 80 ft. long and 53|- broad (the breadth being 
reckoned at f of the length), the implumum would have ^ of the 
breadth, i. e. 17|-. How would 60 ft. high suit this ? or if the 
atrium was 40 ft. long, and 24 broad, the impluvium would be at 
least 6 ft, and each of the side-halls 9 ft., in breadth. How would 
this suit the normal height of 30 feet as Vitruv. says, vi. 3, 7 : 
Columnce tarn altce quam porticus latce fuerint? The proportions 
of Vitruvius agree exactly with those found in Pompeii ; e. g. the 
house of Pansa is 47 ft. 4 in. loug, and 31 ft. 6 in. broad, i. e. 
two-thirds. Vitruv. vi. 7 : Atriis Grceci quia non utimtur neqve 
^dißcant. The Roman atria were, therefore, quite different from 



Scene IL] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 245 

tlie Greek nvXr], since avXr] was equivalent to cavum sedium. Had 
atrium and cavum sedium "been the same, Vitruvius could not have 
made the above assertion.] 

We will now adduce other proofs of the difference between 
them. Quinctilian says of the Mnemonicians, who desired to im- 
press on their memory the locality of a house (Inst. Or. xi. 2, 20, 
305) : Primum sensum [yel locuiii] vestihdo quasi assignant, secundum 
atrio, turn impluvia circumeimt, nee cidticulis modo aut exedris, sed 
Statuts etiam similibusque 'per ordinem committunt. It is difficult to 
understand what circumire impluvia can here mean, except to go 
round the impluvium, along the covered passages, out of which the 
doors led into the various apartments, and between the columns of 
which statues were placed. Cic. Verr. i. 19, 23. Seneca says 
(Epist. 55) of two artificial grottos in the villa of Vatia : Speluncce 
sunt du(B magni operis, laxo atrio pares, manu factce ; quarum altera 
solem non recipit, altera usque in occidentem tenet. It does not ap- 
pear, however, what similitude there was between grottos and a 
cavum medium, whose inner space was uncovered. "Was Seneca 
thinking of a testiidinatum ? But these were never laxa ; on the 
contrary, id)i non erant magni impetus, Vitr. c. 3. [This passage of 
Seneca is of no importance, as we cannot suppose the atrium to be 
so covered, as Becker would have it. Much more important is 
Virg. ^n. ii. 483, where the distinction is sharply drawn between 
atrium and the cavum sedium in the dojnus interior : 

Apparet domiis intus, et atria longa patescunt, 
Apparent Priami et veterum penetralia regum, 
Armatosque vident stantes in limine primo. 
At domus interior gemitu miseroqiie tumultu 
Miscetiir, penitusque cavae plangoribus sedes 
Femineis ululant.] 

Lastly, Pliny {Epist. ii. 17) gives a description of his Villa Lauren" 
tina, built after the fashion of the city, in which atrium and cavum 
aedium appear not only quite different, but separate from each 
other. He says. Villa — in cujus pi-ima parte atriuyn frugi, nee 
tarnen sordidum : deinde porticus in D (or 0) Uteres similifyidinem 
circumactce, quihus parvida, sed f estiva area inchiditur . . . Est contra 
medias cavcsdium hilare, mox triclinium satis pidci'um, quod in litus 
excurrit. JJndique valvas aut fenestras non minores valvis habet, 
atque ita a laterihus et a fronte quasi tria maria prospectat ; a tergo 
cavcedium, porticum, aream, porticum rursus, mox atrium, silvas et 
longinquos respicit montes. Schneider appears entirely to misunder- 
stand the passage, for he supposes the same apartments were 
repeated again, and lay behind the oecus Cyzicenus, but in inverse 



246 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excuesus I. 

order; and thus that there was an atrium at each end of the build- 
ing. But the triclinium reached to the sea, and a view was obtained 
through all these rooms backwards only. As the atrium and 
cavum sedium are here separate from one another, it has been 
supposed, to get rid of the difficulty, that the atrium in the time of 
Pliny was quite different from that of Vitruvius. In corroboration 
of this, Schneider quotes the description of the Tusculan villa, 
Epist. 5, 6 : Midta in hac membra ; atrium etiam ex more majorum ; 
and fancies that in this villa there was an atrium after the ancient 
fashion, but in the Laurentian, on the contrary, one novo more. 
But the most we can infer from the words, more majorum, is, that 
in Pliny's time it was no longer the custom to build atria, at least 
in villas. Pliny's villa, moreover, differs from the directions given 
by Vitruvius, vi. 5, 3. 

Only one difficult passage now remains. Festus says : Atrium 
est genus (sdißcii ante cedem continens medium aream ; in quam col- 
lecta ex omni tecto pluvia descendit ; this is, as Schneider remarks, 
quite erroneous, and betokens a confused idea of the matter, 
probably occasioned by confounding it with vestibulum. The old 
atria might doubtless have gone out of fashion in the time of 
Festus; for immediately after the great fire, in the reign of Nero, 
the houses assumed an entirely different appearance. Suet. Ner. 
16. [Festus is not to blame for this obscurity ; which most likely 
is to be attributed to the epitomist, Paulus. Festus, no doubt, said 
that the atrium was in the front part of the house, and contained 
mediam aream, i. e. the open impluvium, as was afterwards very 
general. Paulus spoiled the passage, and corrupted anterior pars 
csdium, anterior domus, or some such words, into ante (sdes, which 
has no meaning. In other respects the excerpt is correct.] This, 
in part corrupt passage, is in Plin. H. N. xiv. 1, 3 : Ecedem (yites) 
modici hominis altitudine adminicidatce sudibus horrent, vineamque 
f admit, et alice improho discursu pampinorumque superßuitate, peritia 
domini amplo discursu atria media complentes. Pliny evidently 
wishes to describe an extraordinary exuberance, and assigns the 
two extremes of growth. The question is. Whether such be the 
case when a vine covers a whole impluvium ; by which atria media 
should be understood ? He has already said, PojjuUs nubunt . . . 
atque per ramos . . . scandentes cacumina cequant, in tantum sublimes, 
ut vindemiator auctoratus rogiwi ac tumidum excipiat. Nullo ßne 
erescunt, dividique aut potius avelli nequeunt. Villas et domos ambiri 
singulartim palmitibus ac sequacibus loris memoria digmim inter 
prima Valerianus quoque Cornelius existimavit. Una vitis Homes in 
Livicd porticibus subdiales inambulationes umbrosis pergulis opacat, 



Scene IL] THE SOMAX HOUSE. 247 

eadem duodenis musti amplioris foecunda, etc. After sucli an extra- 
ordinary instance as this, a vine that covers an impluvium is very 
insignificant. If we suppose the atrium to be the same as cavum 
aedium, and imagine a greater atrium, sixty feet in length, then its 
breadth would, according to Vitruvius, be forty feet. The un- 
covered space would, in that case, be at most one-third of the 
breadth, we minus quarta, ne j^ius tertia parte ; consequently about 
thirteen feet broad by twenty feet long, which would give the very 
small superficies of sixty-five square ells. In the next place, we 
might inquire why so gresit peritia dominiwsis requisite, as the per- 
gulcB were common to all houses; the connexion also of peritia 
with domini is strange ; for surely it was the business of the vin- 
darius, and not of the master, thus to train the vines. These 
considerations throw considerable suspicion on the passage; besides 
which the MSS. are very conflicting, and several read without any 
sense, pampinoi^mque peritiam damna disciirsu at. med. com. So 
we may almost surmise that some very different meaning is to be 
sought in the passage — perhaps, per itinera domus? [Herzberg 
conjectures pernicie domuum, since the vines in the impluvium, 
piercing through into the atrium, loosened and spoiled the wall. — 
The passage is corrupt ; but the emendations both of Becker and 
Herzberg are wrong, as will presently appear. Becker starts with 
the false notion that Pliny wished to describe the vine's extraordi- 
nary power of growth, and that he only speaks of a single vine. 
The gist of Pliny's description lies in the words : Tot differentias vel 
sola tantum Italia recipit. He wishes, then, to shew how the 
Italian vine varies in growth ; and begins with that which grows 
highest, then describes that growing on pales (liominis altitud.), and 
lastly, those luxuriating in the implu\dum, probably at the foot of 
the pillars. In reference to the words improbo raptatu, comp. Cic. 
Cato Maj. 15 : MuUiplici lapm et erratico. Prof. Bergk, by a mas- 
terly emendation, would read peristylia domus for peritia domini. 
He then alters amplo into amplcB^ inserts et before atria, and reads 
complent. The word discursu will then be the only difficulty. An- 
other less happy conjecture is : super (instead of que mperfluitate) 
peristylia domus amplce disctirsu atria media complentes. 

But, in any case, the above obscure passage cannot at all weaken 
the clear arguments in favour of the total difference of the atrium 
and cavum sedium.] 

In the atrium stood the ledus genialis, or adversus, so called be- 
cause this symbolical marriage-bed was placed janua ex adverso. 
See the commentators on Prop. iv. 11, 85 ; Obbarius ad ITorat. 
JSpist. i. 1, 87, 92. [Lipsius, Elect, i. 17.] Where are we to suppose 



248 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

this lectus placed, if the atrium was the inner court? In the 
atrium also stood, vetere more, the looms, telc^, of the female slaves 
who worked there. Ascon. ad Cic. Mil. 5. But there would hardly 
have been room for them in the passages round the impluvium, 
particularly as the doors into the various cellce and cuhicula led 
from thence. 

Two more observations may be offered in opposition to Schnei- 
der's explanation. First, the collective appellation atrium would 
have been a strange one for the four passages or halls that sur- 
rounded the impluvium ; and if we allow this, the proportions 
assigned by Vitruvius will not apply ; for the impluvium was longer 
than it was broad, and consequently two of the passages would 
have been broader or narrower accordingly. Secondly, if the 
whole space be meant, with the impluvium in the middle, there 
arises another difficulty. Vitruvius speaks of the atria being thirty 
feet long, and consequently twenty feet broad at the utmost ; from 
this one-third goes for the impluvium, and only six and two-third 
feet remain on each side for the passages. Vitruvius (cap. 3 — 10) 
should be read, in order to discover all the contradictions to which 
the common explanation gives rise. 

Hence it appears that the atrium was quite a different part of 
the house from cavum jedium. It was the first {januis proximo) 
as well as the largest saloon, about which more will be said in the 
explanation of the al<^. 

The etymologies given of atrium are very various. Varro de- 
rives it from Atriafes, for which there can scarcely be any other 
ground than the chance similarity of the names -, on the same prin- 
ciple as Festus deduces histrio from Histria. Festus says concern- 
ing it, vel quia a terra oriatur quasi aterreum ; as if the whole of 
the ancient Eoman house was not on the ground-floor. Servius ad 
JEn. i. 730, goes so far as to derive it from smoke, atrmn enim erat 
ex fumo. [Isidor. also, xv. 3, mentions this derivation, but says 
previously, dictum est eo, quod addantur ei fres portions extrinsecus.~\ 
But the strangest explanation is that of Ottfr. Mueller, Etrus. i. 
256, who says, in reference to Varro's etymology, as the Atrias on 
the Adriatic sea is originally the land of the streams flowing to- 
gether (Athesis, Tartarus, Padus, and others), and the collecting 
place of all the waters of upper Italy, so the atrium is that part of 
the house, where the water that rains down upon the roof flows 
into the compluvium and impluvium. Besides, this goes for no- 
thing, if atrium be not the same as cavum medium. The most usual 
derivation, and not an improbable one, is from oWpiov ; for the 
atrium had a wide opening in the roof, lumen, through which, as in 



Scene IL] THE EOMAN HOUSE. 249 

the other parts of the house, the light was cast from above. See 
Vitruv. \'i. 4; Winkelm. W. i. 551. But if we are to adopt a 
Greek derivation, we should rather be inclined to think that the 
word was the same as ä9p6ov ; for it was in the atrium that the 
whole family was accustomed to assemble, to enjoy each other's 
company, to work, and, in early times, to dine also. Still it is 
difficult to determine the etymology of words that belong to a 
remote period, and which miglit have had an origin quite incon- 
ceivable to us. 

[Becker's acute and profound researches make it perfectly clear 
that atrium and cavum aedium were two different parts of the 
house, the first corresponding to our hall, the second to our court. 
But he goes too far, in assuming that the atrium was always 
covered in, or, at most, he only admits of a hole in the roof, 
lumen. But as this theory does not hold good in any of the houses 
discovered at Pompeii, Becker is led into the second error, of pre- 
suming that the open space, which is regularly found behind the 
ostium in Pompeii, is not an atrium, but the cavum aedium ; 
although in that case the Pompeian houses must have generally 
had several cavaedia and never an atrium. Now, though the 
lower orders, both in town and country, require no atrium, yet in 
the houses of even the tolerably affluent there must have always 
been an atrium, as this was the original focus of their whole 
domestic life— somewhat like the great hall of the mediaeval 
knight— and with it were connected all the most important 
incidents of their existence from the cradle to the grave. The 
people of Pompeii had doubtless, therefore, their atrium, and 
though later it may have been shaped more like a court, still, 
that is no reason why the atrium should have been superseded by 
the court ; but, rather, the atrium, as its use became altered, 
altered its shape also. This will be manifest from what follows. 
In the old atrium stood the hearth {focus), serving alike for the 
profane purposes of cooking, and also for the receptacle of the 
Penates. Schol. Hor. Epod. ii. 43 : Juxta focum Dii Penates positi 
fuerunt Plaut. Aul. ii. 8, 15 : 

Hsec imponentur in foco nostro Lari. 
Usually they were in little cupboards ((sdicula), Tib. i. 10, 20 : 

Stabat in exigua ligneus sede deus. 
Juv. viii. 110 ; Petron. 29. Hence Ovid (Fast. i. 136) mentions 
Larem close to the house-door, i. e. in the atrium. The place was 
coMe^di penetralia (Virg. jEn. ii, 485, 513; vii. 59; Stat. Silv. i. 3, 59); 
and the hearth itself, foci penetrales. Virg. yEn. v. 660 ; Or. dehar. 
Resr). 27. Near the familiar flame they took the common meal. 



250 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

Cato in Serv. ad Virg. JEn. i. 730, et in atrio et duohus ferculis qm- 
labantur antiqtd. Serv. on ix. 648 : Illic et epiddbantur et Deos 
colehant. So Hor, Sat. ii. Q, 65, thougli of country life : 
noctes coenseqiie Deum! quibns ipse meique 
Ante Larem proprium vescor, vernasque procaces 
Pasco. 
Here sat enthroned the mistress of the house in the midst of her 
maids ; here was the thalamus nuptialis, and the strong-box of the 
father of the family. Serv. on Virg. jEn. i. 730 : Ibi etiam pecu- 
nias hahehant ; and ix. 648. Several such have been dug up at 
Pompeii ; see next Excursus. Here all visits were received, and 
the clients had audience, who came to their patron for advice or 
help. (Cic. de Leg. i. 3 : more patrio sedens in soUo consulentibus re- 
spmiderem, and de Or. iii. 33.) Here the corpses of the deceased 
members of the family lay in state till their interment (see Excursus 
to the twelfth Scene) ; here, lastly, were suspended the waxen 
masks or imagines, those dear mementos of their deceased fore- 
fathers. See above. For the admission of light and escape of 
smoke there was an opening in the roof, which was larger or 
smaller according to the size of the room, but never of such mag- 
nitude as that the room lost its character of a ceiled apartment. But 
when the frugal family-meal had given place to huge banquets, and 
instead of a few intimate friends and more familiar clients, whole 
troops of people crowded the house, the whole arrangement of the 
atrium would suit no longer. The ancient family-hearth was 
banished to a remote part of the building, and while the Lares 
were placed in a special sacrarium, a spacious kitchen was made 
for cooking. The slaves, likewise, were removed to the hinder 
part of the house, and the coence were held in various saloons, of 
different sizes, erected for the purpose. See below. The atrium 
now served only as the hall of waiting and reception for the clients 
and friends on all occasions. Hor. Ep. i. 5, 31. So Virgil, JEm. 
iii. 353, had his own times in his mind, when he says of Helenus : 

Illos porticibiis rex accipiebat in amplis. 
Aulai in medio libabant pocula Bacchi. 
where aula stands for atrium. 

The atrium likewise continued to be the place for the corpses, 
and for the images of the dead ; only that instead of the insignifi- 
cant waxen masks, cerei clypei, argenteoi fades surdo ßgurarum dis- 
crimine, came into vogue. Plere also remained the lectus genialis, 
"but at this time it had only a symbolical meaning. 

It was now no longer necessary to have the atrium covered in ; 
on the contrary, the larger it became, the wider was the orifice in 



Scene IL] THE KOMAJN^ HOUSE. 251 

tlie roof (one-fourtli or one-third of the breadth of the atiium, 
Vitr. vi. 3, 6), for the admission of suificient light and air. When 
the roof sloped inwards with an opening of this kind, pillars were 
required to support it : these soon gi-ew into an article of luxury, 
and were made' of the most costly marble. Scaurus had four such 
pillars in his atrium, one at each comer ; they were of Hymettian 
marble, and thirty-eight feet high, Cic. p. Scaur, p. 27 ; Plin. 
H.JV. xvii. 1 ; xxxvi. 2. Between these statues were placed, Plin. 
xxxiv. 9 ; XXXV. 2 ; where he compares the ancient and modern 
atria j formerly there were only the waxen imagines. Thus this 
apartment had gradually become very magnificent, Claud, m Huf. 
ii. 135 ; purpureis effulta columnis atria. Lucan, ii. 238 ; Mart. 
xii. 50 ; Virg. ^n. i. 725 ; xii. 475 ; Vitr. vi. 5, 2 ; atria ampla, 
alia, longa, with longis porticihus. Auson. Id. x. 49 : laqneata. 
Ovid. Metam. xiv. 260 : marmore tecta. The cavaedium had like- 
wise, in course of time, been adorned with splendid rows of pillars ; 
and both in it, and in the atrium, a basin and fountain were placed 
(Paul. Diac), to which were added lawns and shrubberies. Ovid. 
Met. viii. 563 ; Auson. Mos. 335 : 

Atria quid memorem viridautibus adsita pratis, 

Innumerisqiie super nutantia tecta columnis ? 
Plin. II. N. xiv. 1, 3. (See above respecting the vine.) Prop. iv. 8, 35 ; 

Unus erat tribus in secreta lectulus herba, 
where the atrium is meant, as is clear from 1. 49. But it is not so 
certain that Virg. (^jEh. xii. 476) speaks of the water-basin of 
the atrium : 

Et nunc porticibus vacuis, nunc humida circum 

Stagna sonat. 
(viz. the swallow) ; for it could also fly to the fountain in the halls 
of the caveedium. The basin in the atrium was generally of an 
oblong shape, without further ornament. Virgil, jEn. ii. 512, 
doubtless alludes to the atria of his times. From this similarity 
between the later atrium and the cavaedium, the atrium came to be 
called av\i] also, which, in earlier times, would have been impos- 
sible. So Horace, Epist. i. 1, 87, says aula instead of atrium ; so 
Virg. jEn. iii. 354. The ancients often allude to this contrast 
between the old and modern atrium ; the former resembling a 
saloon, the latter, with its rich ornaments, a cavaedium. Plin. Ep. 
V. 6 : atrium ex more veterum ; ii. 17 : atritim frmji nee tarnen sor- 
didum. The passage in Plin. xxxv. 2 : aliter apud majores, etc. 
(cited above), is important. Hor. {Od. iii. 1, 46) speaks of the 
new fashion, et novo sublime ritu moliar atrium ? Varro, L. L. viii. 
28, when he plainly says that an atrium is no more like to a peri- 
style than a mhicuhmi to a stable, speaks of the old saloon-like 



252 THE ROMANS' HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

atrium. This passage utterly confutes those who fancy that Varro 
held a caYum sedium and an atrium to be identical ; for a cavum 
asdium would have heen exceedingly like a peristyle ; and, with, 
pillars round it, would be a peristyle exactly. For, beyond doubt, 
in Varro's time the cava sedium were built with rows of pillars. 

To return to the later atria. The houses now had, as it were, 
two cavaedia (as the Grecian house had two aulse, Vitr. vi. 7, 5) ; 
the first, however, differed from the second in being less spacious, 
and having a smaller opening in the roof,- and likewise in its pecu- 
liar use. At least this is the case in all the plans of houses at 
Pompeii. Nor was there, in this, any room for a garden. So that 
there was always so much difference between the two rooms, that, 
even in later times, the first continued to be called atrium, and the 
second and larger, cavaedium. The latter almost merged into the 
peristylium ; see Cavcedium. In the houses at Pompeii the atria 
are only of the later period, with a basin and fountain, seldom with 
pillars. Like as in Pome, these were, at first, the chief rooms of 
domestic life, but later only served for the reception of clients. 
These gentry predominated at Pompeii, where there was plenty of 
ambüio at work, as may be seen from the numerous notices on the 
walls. All the boroughs and colonies were, in fact, miniatures of 
the great metropolis, and so they could not possibly do without 
the atrium — a room so indispensable at Pome. 

From what has been said, we shall not be disposed to allow that 
there were no atria in Pompeii, and that there was no true copy of 
the Poman house to be found there. 

The wide orifice in the roof of the atrium, as well as of the 
cavum sedium, was hung with carpets, as a defence against sun, 
wind, and rain. These were called vela. Isidor. xix. 26 : quod 
objectu suo^ interiora domorur)i velent. TIlp. Dig.^\Ji. 1, 17, § 4; 
xxxiii. 7, 12, § 16 \ umbrce causa. § 17, § 20 : De velis, quce in 
hypcethris extenduntur, item de his qucs sunt circa colutnnas ; where the 
hypsethral or impluvial carpets, hung horizontally, are distinguished 
from the vertical tapestry between the pillars, Pliny also men- 
tions them ; see above. Varro in Serv. ad Virg. ^n. i. 697 {vela sus- 
pendi, to keep out the dust). Ovid, Met. x. 595, speaking of the 
mode in his time : 

Haud aliter, quam cum super atria velum 

Candida purpureum simulatas inficit umbras. 

i. e. the purple velum tinges the marble atrium. Lucret. iv. 73, has 
a similar idea, though in reference to the vela of the theatre. Hor. 
Sat. ii. 8, 54, is generally referred to horizontal vela : 

Interea suspensa graves aulsea ruinas 

In patinam fecere, trahentia pulveris atri, &c. 



Scene II.] ' THE EOMAX HOUSE. 253 

See Heindorf. Wüstemann, however, supposes it to mean tlie 
cm'tain liung before the door, or the carpets hmig against the 
walls instead of paper-hangings. 

In winter, moveable roofs of board could be pushed over the 
impluvium ; at least Javol. Dig. L. 16, 242, § 2, would seem to 
refer to this: structuram, ex tahulis factam, quce csstate tollerentur et 
hieme ponerentur. Though it might mean boardings between the 
pillars. 

ATRIOLUM 

is onlj mentioned by Cic. ad Att. i. 10, and ad Qu. fr. iii. 1, 1 : 
Quo loco in poHicu te scribere aimii ut atriolum ßat, mihi, ut est, 
magis placehat. Keque enhn satis loci videhatur esse atriolo, neque 
fere solet nisi in iis cedißciis ßeri, in quihus est atrium majus, nee 
habere poter as adjimcta cuhicida et ejusmodi membra. Whence it 
«-ppears, firstly, that atriola were only to be found in large mansions, 
where there was also a great atrium ; secondly, that they served 
as an antechamber to a greater hall, peristy Hum with aporticus.'] 

ALJE. 

NoTHn^G agrees better with the supposition that the atrium was 
a diiFerent part of the house from the cavum sedium, than the idea 
which we can alone form of the ales. Those who take the atrium 
to be the inner court, can form no correct opinion about the alae, 
and hence has arisen the strange notion that they were the side- 
buildings running longitudinally parallel to the cavum sedium, and 
in which were the various cellae and cubicula. Galiani, Perrault, 
Stieglitz, Hirt, Böttiger (Sab. ii. 86, 102), Wüstemann (Pal. d. 
Scaur. 55, 56). On this supposition it is difficult to conceive wh}' 
Vitruvius fixed the breadth of the alae in proportion to the length 
of the atrium. [With an atrium of 80 — 100 ft. in length, the alse 
are to be one-fifth in breadth, or 20 ft. ; with 50 — 60 ft. in length, 
only one-fourth or 15 ft. ; with 30 — 40 ft., one-third or 10 feet.] 
•The alse (in this sense) did not belong to the cavum sedium ; they 
were separated from the passages by walls, and could have had as 
much depth for each separate cell or compartment as the architect 
pleased, while their height must, according to Vitruvius, be equal 
to their breadth ; this also is in direct contradiction to the usage of 
the word. The alae, it is true, are not further mentioned in a 
dwelling ; but we have the analogy of the Tuscan temples (the 
atrium also is of Tuscan origin), in which there can be no doubt of 
their nature. The Tuscan temple could have three, or only one, 
cella. Vitruvius, iv. 7, says of it, Latitudo dividatur in partes decern ; 



254 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

ex his ternce partes dextra ae sinistra cellis minorihus, sive ihi alee 
futurcB sint, dentur, reliquce quatuor medice cedi attribuantur. The 
alee therefore, in the one-celled temple, were narrower side-halls 
right and left of the great cella, and probably divided from it only 
by a row of pillars. Thus we must picture to ourselves the alaß in 
the atrium, only that the proportion of their breadth was less ; and 
we now see why the breadtli was fixed in proportion to the length 
of the atrium, which was, in fact, that of the alse also. The edific j 
then, was similarly constructed to many of our churches, which are 
divided into a large centre-aisle and two smaller side-aisles. Mazois 
and Marini felt that the alae must be something of this land, but 
they were prevented, by their false notion about atrium, from as- 
signing their true position. They take them to be on both sides 
of the back-hall, by the impluvium. 

We now see to what use the columns in the atrium were ap- 
plied (Plin. xxxvi. 3), for the roof was much too high to be sup- 
ported by them ; but the trahes liminares of the alae were not 
higher than the breadth of the alse. Possibly, in earlier times, 
piles only occupied the place of columns. 

[In the houses at Pompeii the alse do not form side-aisles to the 
atrium (as Becker would have it), but regular squares at the back- 
ward end of it ; whence it is easy to perceive why their breadth 
depended on the length of the atrium. Moreover, they were not 
by any means a necessary part of the house, for some houses are 
found without them ; and in the house of the tragic Poet, in that of 
the two Fountains, and others, there was, from want of space, only 
one ala at the right end of the atrium. The construction of the 
alaß, as supposed by Mazois and confirmed by Pompeii, is now 
universally acknowledged to be correct.] 

TABLINUM. 

It is very difficult to assign the correct position of the tahlinum, 
nor are we acquainted with any passage containing information on 
the subject. [Except in Vitruv. vi. 3, 5, it is only mentioned twice ; 
and Vitruvius says nothing about its situation, only giving its size in 
proportion to the breadth of the atrium, viz. two-thirds, when the 
atrium is twenty feet broad ; one-half, when it is thirty to forty feet 
broad ; and two-fifths, when it is forty to sixty feet.] It is true that 
Festus says, 273 : Tahlirtum proxhne atrium locus dicitur, quod anti- 
qui magistratus in suo imperio tahulas . . . ; and Paul. Diac. p. 137 ; 
Tahlinum locus proximus atrio a tahidis appellatus. But whatever 
idea we may form of the atrium, this place is not discoverable. It 



Scene II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 255 

does not suit the theory of those, who under the word atrium under- 
stand cavum £edium, because a number of different chambers would 
have been then proxime atrium. Again, if we take atrium in the 
sense given above, there will be no proper place where it could have 
been situated. We shall be less inclined to attach importance to 
this explanation of Festus, when we recollect that he had an erro- 
neous idea about the atrium itself. The tablinum has been usually 
supposed opposite the ostium, or, according to our supposition, the 
atrium, beyond the cavum aedium, and has been laid down thus in 
the Plan we have given. [According to Marquez, the tablinum is to 
the left of the atrium, and of the same length ; this needs no refu- 
tation. But Becker's notion is likewise very improbable and arbi- 
trary (as he himself afterwards acknowledged) ; for, not to mention 
any other reason, it does not suit either the account of Vitruvius or 
Festus. Thus much, at all events, may be gathered from Vitruvius, 
that the tablinum lay at the small end of the atrium ; for, other- 
wise, there would be no sense in making the extent of the tablinum 
depend on the breadth of the atrium. This, moreover, harmonizes 
with Festas, who was not at all in error about the matter, al- 
though his epitomist was ; as shewn above. He says very briefly, 
proxime atrium-, but everybody, who knew the position of the 
atrium, was aware that this proxime referred neither to the front 
end of the atrium, nor yet to its two sides ; for in the first case the 
tablinum must have lain between the ostium and the atrium, which 
was impossible ; and in the second case there would have been no 
space left for the alee. So that the fourth or hinder end of the 
atrium alone remained for the tablinum to join on to. This is shewn 
by all the excavations at Pompeii ,• where there is invariably a four- 
cornered room, with a very broad doorway (for the sake of light), 
behind the atrium ; and this room could only be the tablinum ; see 
T. in Plan B. Through this position of the tablinum, alone are we 
enabled to fix that of ihQ fauces ; or in any way to explain them.] 
There appears to be no doubt that tablinum is to be derived 
from tabula ; the only question is, whether tabula (according to 
Varro's interpretation) means board ; or whether the tabula ratio- 
num and the like are alluded to, which is most probable. Besides 
the authority of Festus for this, we have that of Pliny (xxxv. 2, 2), 
who, in praising the olden time, says : Tablina codicibus impleban- 
tur et monumentis rerum in maijistratu gestarurn. Hence it was in 
some measure the archives of the house, that which, in reference 
to the res publica, was called tabellarium, Dionys. i. 74. 



256 THE KOMAX HOUSE. [Excursus I. 



FAUCES. 

What, or rather wliere, the fauces were, is a point on wliicli 
there exists great diversity of opinion, and upon which we know 
next to nothing. Perrault, Rode, Wüstemann, and Schneider have 
supposed it to be the hall which we have comprehended under the 
term ostium ; but such quotations as, Vestibulum ante ipsumprimis- 
que in faucihus Orci (Virg. A^n. vi. 273), do not show that other 
passages in the house might not have had the same name ; and 
Vitruvius calls the passages in the Grecian house, which supplied 
the place of the hall, iter, not fauces. Galiani, Ortiz, and Stratico 
understood by this term, aperturam per quam transitus habetur ab 
atrio ad tablinum, which is rather obscure. [Marquez (delta Casa di 
Citta, etc. p. 91) understands them to be passages between the 
pillars or piers from the alpe into the atrium ; but these interme- 
diate spaces were much too broad to admit of being called fauces.] 
Mazois, Hirt, and Marini conceive them to be passages leading to 
the larger peristylium, on each side of the tablinum ; and we have 
adopted this idea, because Vitruvius lays down the breadth of the 
fauces in proportion to that of the tablinum, which would have been 
unnecessary, had they not been in some manner connected with it. 
It is evident that some such thoroughfares must have existed, and 
if we set the tablinum in the place assigned to it, this is the most 
plausible position of the fauces. [The only correct idea of the 
fauces is, that they were narrow passages or corridors beside the 
tablinum (although Becker, in his posthumous Papers, has forsaken 
this, and gone back to the opinion that the fauces were the entrance- 
hall, the i-)vpwv of Plutarch). This is clear from Vitruv. vi. 3, 6 : 
Fauces minoribus atriis e tablini latitudine dempta tertia^ majoribus 
diynidia cmistituantur. As the tablinum did not lie behind, but 
before, the cavcsdium, the fauces did not lead from the cavsediuni 
to the greater peristyle, as in Becker's Plan (f. f.) ; but from the 
atrium into the cavsedium, as in Plan B. This explanation is most 
fully corroborated in Pompeii, where, with scarcely a single excep- 
tion, there are either two passages, one on each side of the tablinum 
(viz. in large houses), or only on one side of it (viz. in small 
houses). And to these alone, from their narrowness, is the term 
fauces applicable. The tablinum and fauces always lie at the 
upper end of the atrium ; seldom however (as in Plan B.) occupying 
the whole breadth of the atrium ; but leaving^ mostly, enough space 
for another room alongside of the tablinum. This practice, more- 
over, agrees exactly with the theory of Vitruvius. He says that, 
with an atrium sixty feet broad, the tablinum must be two-fifths, or 



Scene II.] THE ROMAX HOUSE. 257 

twenty-four feet, and the two fauces, one-half or twelve feet broad 
each, i.e. forty-eight in all ; so that twelve feet remain over for 
other purposes. When the atrium is only forty feet broad, the 
tablinum will be two-fifths or sixteen feet ; the fauces eight each or 
thirty-two feet in all, leaving eight feet over. But when the atrium 
is only twenty-four feet broad, the tablinum will have two-thirds, 
or sixteen, and the fauces ought properly to have sixteen feet also, 
or one-half. But in that case the sum would be thirty- two, whereas 
we have only twenty-four at our disposal, and this, according to the 
practice, ought not to be all used up. But this difficulty will dis- 
appear, if we« remember that, with a smaller atrium, two fauces 
were not necessary, a single corridor sufficing which would take 
up eight or only six feet ; and then there would be still two feet 
over from the breadth of the atrium, as was the case in most atria.] 

CAVUM ^DIUM.i 

OiTR remarks on the atrium have shewn what was the general 
nature of the cavum sedium ; it was the inner court, the real heart 
of the house, around which the other divisions were situated. In 
the centre was an uncovered space, area, styled mipluvium, and en- 
closed on all sides by covered passages. [The slanting roof over 
the arcades was called comphivium, Varro, ib. This was the dis- 
tinction made between impluvium and compluvium by Hirt and 
Laglandiere ; but Mazois and Raoul-Rochette understand by com- 
phnaum the opening in the roof, by impluvium the cistern. See 
Paul. Diac. p. 108 : Impluvium, quo aqua impluit collecta de tecto. 
Compluvium, quo de divei'sis tectis aqua pluvialis conßuit in eundem 
locum. So Asc. ad Cic. Verr. i. 23, p. 277 ; Serv. ad Virg. JEn. 
i. 505 ; ii. 512. It is evident that impluvium was the name of the 
open space, from Plaut. Mil. ii. 2, 3 : pe7' impluvium intro spectant 
(yicini), and 3, 16.] These roofs were divided into the following 
kinds, according to their construction, Vitruv. 

I. Tuscanicum, in which beams were laid in latitudine atrii, 
resting upon the opposite walls ; into these two others were mor- 
tised, or hung in at equal distances from the wall, the inteipensiva 
of Vitruvius ; and on these timbers, which thus formed a square, lay 
the asseres, the spars which supported the roof. This was pro- 
bably the most ancient mode of building, but not sidtable for a ver\^ 
large cavum aedimu. 



Cavum ocdium, according to Yarro and Vitruvius : cavcedium, to Pliny. 
S 



258 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus T. 

II. The tetrastylum differed only in pillars being placed in the 
four corners where the interpensiva lay upon the main beams. 
This possibly took place only in cavcBdia of larger dimensions, for 
fear of imposing too much weight on the beams. 

III. In the Corintliium the beams did not lie on the walls, a 
parietihus recedunt, but were upheld by a row of columns which 
encircled the impluvium. 

IV. In the displuviatu7n the roofing did not slope inwards to- 
wards the impluvium, but towards the walls, where gutters caught 
the rain-water, and carried it down. The advantage of this was 
that, in winter, or gloomy weather, the light from the surroimdiug 
apartments was not intercepted by a low roof. [Its disadvantage was, 
that the walls were injured if the gutters did not carry ofi" the 
water quickly enough, Vitruv.] 

V. The testudinatum was covered and had no impluvium. The 
testudo, however, was not an arch, camera, but a common roof of 
rafters. See Vitruv. v. 1 ; Hirt, supra. How a cavum asdium of 
this description received the requisite light, we are not informed. 
[It has been already observed that, later, the cavsedium passed 
more into the form of the peristyle (as tetrastylum and Corinthium) ; 
and this was almost always the case in those houses which had only 
two open chief rooms (atrium and cavsedium), and were in fact 
without the regular peristyle. Cav£edia of this kind were in the 
house of the tragic Poet. See Plan B., P. In that of Pansa, 
of Meleager (to the left of the atrium), of the Dioscuri (to the 
right of the atrium), of the Bronzes, &c. The pillars were on 
all four sides, as in the house of Meleager, where there are 
twenty-four magnificent pillars ; or on three sides, as in our Plan 
(where the middle pillar in the front has been omitted by mistake), 
and in the house of Sallust ; from the fourth side resting against 
a wall ; or even on two or one side only, as in many small houses 
in the street of Mercury at Pompeii. These pillars were mostly of 
bricks or common stone stuccoed over ; with a variety of fantastic 
capitals.] 

In the middle of the impluvium there was generally a cistern, or 
fountain [salientes, Varro, R. R. i. 13 : Interius comphivium haheat 
lacum, uhi sallat aqua'], the basins of which were four-cornered, and 
generally adorned with reliefs, ^jw^ea/«« sigillata, Cic. Alt. i. 10; 
[Ulp. Big. xix. 1, 17, § 9. Many beautiful fountains of marble 
and bronze have been discovered at Pompeii. In some, at the top 
of a marble pillar there are little animals, like ducks, which eject 
the water. Sometimes the water spouts from a tiger's head, or 
from a stag of bronze (as in the house of Sallust, now in the Mu- 



Scene II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 259 

seum at Palermo), or from a mask, as in the house of Meleager. 
There is also a beautiful Silenus standing- in a niche, highly orna- 
mented with mosaic, and leaning against the pipe, whence the water 
falls down four steps into the basin. Steps were erected for the pur- 
pose of making a little cascade. Sen. Ep. 86 : Quantum aquarum 
per gradus cum fragore cadentium ? In the house of Meleager the 
water trickled from a marble slab into the great basin of the atrium, 
and in the peristyle of the cavasdium down several steps. The grand 
basin was generally of marble, and of various shapes. Beside it 
there were also little basins placed, of stone or bronze, Javol. Dig. 
xxxiii. 10, 11 : Vasa cenea salientis aqucB posita. Frequently there 
was a marble table near the cistern, as in the houses of Meleager 
and of the Centaur. Varro, L. L. v. 125 : Mensa erat lapidea . . . 
vocahatur caHihulum. Ucee in cedihus ad compluviiim ponebatur. 
A little fish-box, or water-vessel, was set by the cistern as in Plan 
B, letter d, in the atrium. The intercolumniations of the cavsedium 
were adorned with statues, after the days of the Republic. Cic. 
Verr. i. 19 : Qiice signa nunCy Veri'es, ubi sunt f ilia quai'o, quce apud 
te nuper ad omiies columnas, omnibus etiam, inter columniis^ in silva 
denique sub divo vidimus. So 23 and o6. At the same period gar- 
dens and ornamental shrubberies were laid out in the caveedia, 
which had, by degrees, become just like the peristyles. Hor. Ep. 
i. 10, 22 : 

Nempe inter varias nutritiir silva columnas ; 
and Obbarius, on Od. iii. 10, 5 : 

Audis quo strepitu janua. quo nemus 

Inter pulchra satum tecta remugiat 

Ventis. 
Tib. iii. 3, 15 ; Jliv. iv. 7 ; Liv. xliii. 13 ; Plin. H. N. xvii. 1 ; Suet. 
Aug. 92. Flower-pots of metal are often found between the pil- 
lars. Javol. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 6 : Doha ßctilia item plumbea ; quihiis 
viridaria posita.^ 

PERISTYLIUM. 

Behind the cavum sedium and tablinum lay the larger peristy- 
Uum, in the shape, like the former, of an oblong square ; but while 
the cavum sediiim reached longitudinally from the atrium to the 
tablinum, the peristylium, on the contrary, lay transversely 
beyond the tablinum. Vitruv. 4: Peristylia autem in transversa 
tertia parte longiora sint, quam introrsus, and consequently its 
length extended crosswise towards the sides of the house. [But 
sometimes it lay longitudinally, and not crosswise, as in the house 
of the Faun.] The surrounding porticos, the pillars of which 

s2 



260 THE EOMAN HOUSE. [Excüesüs I. 

might not "be more than four diameters from each other, enclosed 
a larger area, whicn also had a cistern or jet in its centre, and was 
planted with flowers, shrubs, and trees (viridarium) . See Obbar. 
ad Horat. JEpist. i. 10, 22, [just like as in the cavsedium, only on 
a larger scale. Statues were placed here likewise, and a low 
balustrade ran between the pillars, as a fence to the garden, Vitruv. 
iv. 4, 1. On the cornice above the pillars there were ornaments 
{anteßxa, Paul. Diac), such as lions' heads, as in temples, Vi- 
truv. iv. 4. The largest peristyle in Pompeii is in the house of the 
Paun, vdth forty-four Doric columns. That in the house of the 
ornamented Capitals, consisting of twenty-four pillars, encircled a 
large garden neatly laid out. Most of the pillars made of brick, at 
Pompeii, still remain, while those of marble have perished. This 
is explained by the fact that, soon after the destruction, the inhabit- 
ants returned, and excavated whatever they were able of their 
property.] 

II. We now come to the divisions of the house which might be 
arranged diiferently, according to circumstances and the tastes of 
the owners; whilst those already described held the same position 
in all genuine Roman houses, and were built according to a received 
plan, which in the main, was not deviated from. 

The parts which especially remain for our consideration are 
cuUcula, triclinia, ceci, exedra, pinacotheca, hihliotheca, haUneum. The 
baths and library wiU be treated of in distinct Articles, in order that 
the disquisition on the usages concerning them may not be sepa- 
rated from the description of their situation and construction. 

CUBICULA 

was the name for all the smaller chambers, that served as regular 
lodging and sleeping apartments, Cubicida nocturna et diurna 
(Plin. Ep. i. 3) ; the former are also called dormitoria, id. v. 6 ; 
Plin. XXX. 6, 17. There is nothing particularly worthy of remark 
respecting their position, except that a small ante-room was some- 
times attached, which went by the Greek name, TrpoKOLrwr. Plin. 
Ep. ii. 17. There were cubicula ccstiva and hihcrna, and the bed- 
chambers were removed as far as possible from all disturbances. 
See Mazois, Pal. d. Scatir. 68. [In the house of Meleager, and 
others at Pompeii, large chambers have been found with smaller 
alcove-shaped rooms attached to them, which were often dormitoria. 
The name for these alcoves or cabinets was zotheca. Plin. Ep. ii. 
17 : Zotheca perquam eleganter recedit, quce specnkmbus et velis oh- 
ductis reductisque modo adjicitur cubiculo, modo avfertiir. Plin. v. 6 : 
Sidon. Ep. viii. 16^ zothecula.'] 



Scene IL] THE ROMAN HOUSE. . 261 



. TEICLINIA. 

Respectzn'g the triclinia, Ciacconi and Orsini have, according to 
tlie old fashion, collected a good deal e re and a re. They were 
smaller dining-halls or rooms, according to Vitruvius, twice as long 
as they were broad. Their height was half the sum of the breadth 
and length ; consequently, when sixteen feet broad, and thirty-two 
feet long, they were twenty-four feet high. Vitruv. vi. 3, 8. They 
were also called triclinia, when they contained more than one tri- 
clinium. There were particular triclinia as well as cubicula for 
the different seasons of the year. [Varro, R. R. i. 13 j L. L. viii. 
29 ', Sidon. Apoll. Ep. ii. 2.] Vitruvius directs that the verna 
and aiitumnalia be towards the east, the hiberna towards the west, 
and the csstiva towards the north : but this arrangement of course 
depended much upon the disposable room. See Plut. Liicull. 41. 

(ECI 

were larger saloons, of various styles of architecture, which were 
used also, though not exclusively, as triclinia. Vitruvius mentions 
various sorts of such saloons. 

I. The tetrastylos, which requires no particular explanation. 
Four pillars supported the roof. 

II. The Corinthius. This had rows of pillars on all four sides, 
along the wall, though detached from it, so that a passage was left 
between them. They were connected by an epistylium, along 
which ran a corona, and upon this rested the roof, which was 
moderately arched. 

III. The (Ecus JEgyptius was still more splendid; like the 
Corinthian, it had pillars on all four sides, but from their entabla- 
ture to the wall there was a flat roof, so that the height of the 
passages was not more than that of the pillars with the entablature. 
Above the lower pillars a second row was placed {ad perpcndicu- 
lutri), the height of which was one-fourth less than that of the 
lower ones, and on the epistylium of these rested the roof. Above 
the roof of the passages was a pavement, outside of the middle and 
higher saloon, so that there was a passage all round, and a view 
through the windows placed between the columns. Thus the cecus 
^gyptius presented the appearance of a hasilica, which is built in 
this manner. 

IV. The fourth kind, the (Ecus KvZik)]v6c, seems, even in the 
time of Vitruvius, to have been uncommon and new ; for he says 
that such saloons are now Italicce consuettidinis. Their peculiarity 



262 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excuksus I. 

was, that they had on three sides (Vitruvius says only dextra et 
sinistra) glass doors, or windows reaching like doors to the ground, 
so that, when reclining on the triclinia, persons could enjoy a view 
on all sides into the open air, Pliny had a saloon of this descrip- 
tion in both his villas. To have commanded such a view, they 
must have projected from the rest of the house. 

EXEDR^. 

ViTRUVius places these with the ceci, i. e. with the quadrati; for 
those mentioned above had the proportions of triclinia, and there 
can be no doubt that we must understand thereby regular rooms 
for conversation and the reception of company. In certain respects 
only can they be compared with the eiedrce in the public gymnada, 
which were semicircular recesses with seats in tlie colonnades. 
Vitruv. V. 11 : Constituuntur in 'porticihus exedrtB spatiosis, habentes 
sedes, in quibus philosophi, rhetores, reliquique qui studiis delectantur, 
sedentes disputai^e possint. Of course these were in the open air 
(Vitruv. vii. 9), apertis locis, id est peristyliis aut exedris, quo sol et 
lima possit splendores et radios immittere. That Wüstemann, Pal. d. 
Scaur. 120, is wrong in inferring that in private houses also they 
were without covering, is evident from Vitruvius assigning their 
height in common with the oeci quadrati : Sin autem exedr<2 aut ceci 
quadrati fuerint, latitudinis dimidia addita altitudines educantur. 
Comp. vii. 3. They were called exedrse, according to Mazois, 119, 
because on two sides they had such semicircular recesses ; but 
perhaps really only from their being used for similar purposes, and 
on account of the seats ; for undoubtedly they had seats [of stone, 
running along the wall ; see Becker's Charicles^ translated by Met- 
calfe, p. 207 ; Gronov. ad Suet. III. Gramm. 17] and not lecti to 
recline on. Cic. Nat. Deor. i. 6 : Nam cum feriis Latinis ad eum 
[ Cottam'] ipsitts rogatti arcessituque venissem, offendi eum sedentem in 
exedra et cum C. Velleio senatore disputantem. Hence also. De Orot. 
iii. 5, cum in eam exedram vetiisset, in qua Crassus, lectulo posito re- 
cuhuisset, etc. The hemicyclia are not to be confounded with them. 
Cic. de Amic. 1 : Domi in hemicyclio sedentem. Plin. JEp. v. 6. 
These were uncovered semicircular seats, which occur frequently 
at Pompeii. They are also mentioned at Athens. 

[DLETA. 

This does not denote any particular sort of room, but is a 
general term for a lodging-room or lodgings. In the first sense, 
Stat. Silv. ii. 2, 83 : 

Ante tarnen cunctas procul eminet una disetas. 



Scene IL] THE KOMAIS^ HOUSE. 263 

Plin. Ep. vii. 5 j ii. 17 ; Ulp. Big. xxix. 5, 1, § 27 ; Suet, a.aud. 
10. In the sense of a lodging, or number of rooms, or as tlie -wing 
of a house, in Plin. Ep. v. 6 : Uicet(S duce, quarum in altera cuhicula 
quatuor, altera tria. Hence it signifies an eating-room, Sidon. 
Episb. ii. 2 ; a bed-chamber, Plin. Ep. ii. 17 ; and a garden-saloon, 
Scsev. Big. vii. 1, 66, § 1. In the above passages, town-houses, as 
well as countiy ones^ are referred to, 

CHAPEL. 

Whex the hearth was removed frcfm the atrium, a chapel was 
made for the Lares and Penates, and the hearth became an altar. 
(In the houses of the poor and the rustic, the household gods still 
remained at the hearth. Cato, i2. R. 143. And in this point of 
view, arce, foci, dii penates, still continued to be mentioned to- 
gether. Or. p. Bom. 40.) The name of this chapel was lararium, 
or sacrarium, which last word, however, signified any sacred place, 
Ulp. Big. i. 8, 9, § 2. As a domestic chapel it occurs in Cic. ad 
Earn. xiii. 2 ; Verr. iv. 2 : Ey^at apvd Heium sacrarium in csdibus, in 
quo signa pidcherri^na quatuor. Pro 3Iil. 31 : Lararium occurs in 
Lamprid. Sev. Alex, who mentions a larger and smaller one be- 
longing to that emperor. Cap, Ant. Phil. 3. From which passages 
we learn that besides the Lares, the images of revered persons were 
stored up here. Suet. Vit 2. Its situation was uncertain ; either 
in the cavum aedium, Suet. Oct. 92 (see Plan B., left of the virida- 
rium, close to the wall), or in the garden of the peristyle, as in the 
house of the Dioscuri. It was rarely in the atrium, as in the large 
house of the ornamented Capitals (in the left wing).] 

PIT^TACOTHECA. 

In the old Roman houses there was certainly no pinacotheca, 
any further than that the intercolumniations of the cavum medium 
or peristylium, the gymnasium and the garden, were adorned with 
statues. Marcellus, Flaminius, ^milius Paulus, and especially 
Mumrhius, took, it is true, a great number of works of art to 
Rome, but they were otAj used for beautifying public buildings and 
palaces, and Cic. Verr. i, 21, praised those men quorum donus, cum 
honore et virtute ßorerent, signis et tabidis picfis erant vacuce. Even 
among the Greeks, the desire for the personal possession of works 
of art arose only at a late period, when public spirit was gradually 
disappearing, and they were more and more divesting themselves 
of the habit of looking on what belonged to the community as their 
own property- also, and ceased to seek their own glory in the gran- 



264 THE -ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursis I. 

deur of their country. How much more was this tjie case at Home, 
where even the taste for art was wanting, and where, at a later 
period, vanity and fashion, rather than love or knowledge of the 
subject, led people to form collections. See Becker's Antiq. Flau- 
tines, i. 28. 

In the time of Vitruvius it was considered good taste to possess 
a pinacotheca (see Plin. xxxv. 2), and he therefore prescribes the 
manner of constructing that, as of every other part of the house. 
A northern aspect was selected for it, that the colours might not be 
injured by the light of the sun. The tabulae (for wood was in 
general used for painting on, although Cicero, Verr. iv. 1, mentions 
pictures on canvass, m textili) were either let into the wall, or hung 
against it. Cic. Vet^r. iv. 55 ; Plin. xxxv. 10, 37 {qu(^ ex incendiis 
rapi possent) ; Plin. xxxv. § 9 ; Ulp. Dig. xix. 1, 17, 3 ; comp. An- 
tiq. Plaut. 47. No passage, in which frames for the pictures are 
mentioned, occurs to us at present, however natural it may appear 
to have had them. In Plin. xxxv. 2, there is nothing about them, 
yet several paintings on the walls are provided with frames, like 
borders ; as, for instance, that one known by the name of the Aldo- 
brandini marriage. Comp. Winkelm. W. v. 171 ; Vitruv. ii. 8, 9, 
speaks of wooden frames for the transport of fresco paintings cut 
out of the walls. 

[APAKTMENTS OF THE SLAVES. 

The cellcß familiäres ox familiariccB, servorum cellce (Colum. i. 6; 
Cic. Thil. ii. 27 \ Vitruv. vi. 7), were unadorned chambers, in the 
back or upper part of the house ; except the cella of the ostiaiius, 
which was at the ostium : perhaps, too, that of the atriensis. These 
two are marked e in Plan B. 

KITCHEN. 

The culina (originally coquina, Non. i. 273) was in ancient 
times on the simple hearth of the atiium. Serv. ad Fwv/. ^n. i. 
726 (see above). In the country they kept to this old custom, and 
both kitchen and hall were one. Varr. R.R. i, 13 -, Col. i. 6 : magna 
culina — in ea commode familiäres omni tempore anni morari queant. 
But in the town, the kitchen was removed backwards. Varro, in 
Non. ih. : In postica parte erat culina. Lucil. in Non. iii. 158 : 

Pistrinum appositum, posticum, sella, culina. 

In large palaces it was very spacious, and frequently arched over. 
One is mentioned as 148 feet long, in an inscription. Sen. Ep. 114 ; 
Ep. 64. They were even adorned with frescoes, as in the house of 



ScEiJE II.] THE KOMAX HOUSE. 265 

Meleager, and the Dioscuri, at Pompeii. A snake was often painted 
above the hearth. Many remains have been found of hearths and 
sinks {coqidnce fusorium, Pall. R. R. i. 37, or conßuvium, Varro), 
but none of chimneys ; the flues being short. 



THE LATRINA 

was inconveniently placed next the kitchen (derived from lavatrina, 
Non. iii. 131) ; perhaps that the sewer leading from the latrina to 
the public cloaca might carry off the dirty water from the kitchen. 
Col. X. 805 Varro, L. L. v. 118 ; Suet. Tib. 58 ; Plaut. Ctirc. ii. 3; 
83. The slaves brought hither the sellas familiaricae or pertusse, 
matulse and matelliones (Paul. Diac. p. 125), lasana, scaphia, etc., 
which were, later, often of costly metal. Mart. i. 38 ; Petron. 27 ; 
Lampr. Helioy. 32. The debasing offices performed by the slaves, 
in this respect, are described by Martial, iii. 82 ; vi. 89 ; xiv. 119 ; 
Sen. Ep. 67. On the public foricce, see Juv. iii. 38 ; Paul. Dig, 



STOHE-CHAIUBEES. 

The cella penaria, penuaria (Cic. de not. d. ii. 27 ; Dig. xxxiii. 
^),proma or proinptuaria, also horrenm, and later called cellarium 
(Suet. Oct. 6), was indispensable. Like the cella vinaria and the 
granarium (Vitruv. i. 4, 2), it lay to the north, near the cavae- 
dium, consequently, behind the house, not far from the kitchen. 
Respecting the cellarius, see above. The oil-store, cella olearis or 
olearia, lay southwards, to prevent the oil from freezing. Vitruv. 
vi. 6 ; Cato, R. R. 13 ; Varro, R. R. i. 13. On the cella vinaria, 
see Excursus IV. Sc. 9. Sometimes there was a small chamber 
near the triclinium (cipotheca tricUnii), serving as a pantry. 



PISTRINUM 

was the name for the bakehouse and mill together, which, in the 
houses of the rich, stood near the kitchen. The middle classes 
bought their meal and bread at the public baker's. The pistrina, 
found at Pompeii, were not for the use of the house, but had been 
let out by the proprietor to public bakers. In them there are 
generally, several hand-mills (also named pistrina or moletrince 
Non. i. 320, and inolce), which consist of an upper and lower part 
catillus and meta. The upper stone was worked round, and thus 
crushed the grain below. The pole for turning it (molile, Cato, 
R. R. 11, 12, or molucnim), was worked by asses j also by slaves, 



266 THE ROMAIS" HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

as a pimishment. Appul. 3'let. ix. p. 221 ; Ovid. Fast. vi. 311. 
Hence a distinction is made between molae mamiarice and jumen- 
taricB. Jayol. Dig. xxxiii, 7, 26. The ovens are quite round, and 
seven or eight feet deep, by as many broad. The flues consist of 
three pipes of clay, ten inches in diameter. 



TAEEEN^. 

~Ln the town-houses these were often placed right and left of 
the ostium, and also in the side street ; sometimes in whole rows. 
Originally, the name signified small wooden houses. Fest. Taher- 
nacvla, p. 256. So Paul, under adtihernalis and contuhernales, p. 12; 
Isidor. XV. 2 ; Ulpian, Dig. xiv. 183. Later, it was only used of 
shops. Non. xii. 55. These tabernae had often their own special 
upper-chamber, which served as a lodging, while in the room below 
was the shop only, as is clear from the large doorways. These 
shops were either let, and then had no internal communication with 
the house, or the master of the house occupied them himself. Many 
instances of both kinds are met with in Pompeii. See Plan B./ 
the rooms marked a, a, which are quite separated from the house. 
Of such Cicero speaks, ad Att. xiv. 9. In the house of Sallust 
there is a large bakehouse with four rooms on the ground floor, 
besides upper story. These are quite disconnected from the house ; 
so also the tabernae at the right corner, one of which was an oil- 
shop, as is clear from the stone counter, which is hollowed out for 
several jars. But there are two other tabernae on either side of the 
ostium, which were connected with the house, and were used by 
the proprietor. In the house of Pansa, there were eleven such 
tabernse, each with its separate entrance into the adjoining streets, 
and not communicating with the house. Some of them were 
lodgings as well as shops. The largest is a bakehouse ; over the 
oven is the inscription, hie habitat felicitas. In the surgeon's house 
is a booth connected with the atrium, and was therefore used 
by the possessor in which to practise his art. Plere were found 
thirty-eight leaden weights, inscribed Eyne. Hahehis. All sorts of 
articles were sold in these tabernae, from the most costly furni- 
ture to the simplest victuals (taherna casearia, Ulp. JDicj. viii. 5, 8). 
The booksellers, the tonsores, and slave-dealers, had all their booths. 
The wine-shops played a principal part. Respecting those tabernae, 
which were not included in the area of the house, but only abutted 
on it, see above. 



Scene IL] THE ROMA^s" HOUSE. 267 



CELLARS 

were named hypog(^a (concamerationes). Vitriiv. vi. 8 ; Isidor. 
XV. 3, apogeum. They were vaulted, and used for various purposes. 
In tlie villa of Diomed at Pompeii (and also in the bouse of the 
Anchor), there is a row of such cellars, to which one descends, on 
both flanks of the main building. At the entrance on the right, 
eighteen skeletons were discovered, and several ornaments. A 
number of amphorce^ filled with ashes, stiU lie where they were 
found.] 

UPPER STORY. ^ 

The ground-floor was the principal part of the building, and 
served as the regular place of abode. The apartments above them 
went by the common name, coenacula. Varro, supra : Posteaquam 
in superiore parte coenitare cceperant^ superior domus universa ccena- 
cula dicta. Festus, 42 : Coenacula dicuntur, ad quce scalis ascenditur. 
Hence, too, Jupiter says, jocularly, Plaut. Amjjh. iii. 1, 3 : In su~ 
jteriore qui hahito coenacido. [So Ennius in Tertullian, adv, Valent. 
7 : coenacula ma.vima coeli Sen. Up. 90. The diflerent stories 
were called tabidata.'] As the lower divisions of the house were of 
difi'erent heights, and in some instances received light from above, 
it was impossible to have an unbroken succession in the upper 
rooms ; to connect which, several flights of steps were therefore 
requisite : proof of this has been discovered at Pompeii. Occa- 
sionally, too, these stairs ascended from the street outside. Liv. 
xxxix. 14 : Consul rogat socrum, ut aliquam partem cedium vacuam 
faceret, quo Hispala immigraret. Coenaculum super cedes datum est, 
scalis ferentihus in publicum ohseratis, aditu in aides ve7'so. [Ulp. 
Dig. xliii. 17, 3, § 7. Under these steps was a good hidiag-place. 
Cic. p. 3Iil., in scalarwn se latehrasahdidit. Hor. JEpist. ii. 2, 15.] 
Above these coenacula, or over the ground-floor, terraces were laid 
out, and planted with trees, shrubs, ard flowers. In the early 
periods these may have stood in tubs filled with earth, but after- 
wards they undoubtedly had regular gardens on the pavement. 
These roof-grardens were called 



SOLARIA; 

a name which is, however, of more extensive signification, and 
denotes generally a place where we can enjoy the warmth of the 
sun. [Isidor. xv. 3, solaria, quia patent soli. Ulp. Dig. viii. 2, 17 ; 
Plaut. Mil. Glor. ii. 3, 69; Macrob. Sat. ii. 4.] Seneca (Cow^r. 



268 THE ROMA^^ HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

JExc. V. 5) testifies to what an excess this pleasant custom was 
carried, alunt in summis culminihus mentita tiemora et namgahilium 
piscinarum freta. Sen. ^. 122 : No7i vivunt cmitra naturam, qui 
pomaria in smnmis turrihus serunt ? quorum silvcs in tectis domorum 
ac fastigiis nutant, inde ortis radicihus quo improhe cacumina ec/is- 
sent f The solaria built by Nero in front of the houses and inmlce, 
and resting on piazzas, were somewhat similar. Suet. Nero, 16 : 
Formam cEdißciorum Urhis novam excogitavit, et ut ante insidas ac 
domos portions essent, de quarum solariis incendia arcerentur. Tacit. 
Ann. XV. 4, 3, refers to insulae only. These solaria were probably 
not much unlike our balconies. Comp. Winkelm. W. i. 391. 



[PERGULtE, IVLENIANA, PODIA. 

These were a sort of projecting balcony. Pergida (from, pergo, 
as regula from rego) answered, on the ground-floor, to our project- 
ing shop-front, and above, to a bow or balcony. Plin. H. N. xxxv. 
10, 36. (Apelles) perfecta opera proponehat pergxda tr'ansemdihus, at- 
que post i]>sam tahulam latens, vitia quce notarentur atiscidtahat. Lucil. 
in Lactant. i. 22. Ulp. Dig. ix. 3, 5 : Cum pictor in pergula clipeum 
vel tahulam expositam habuisset. Herodian. vii. 12. Hence the whole 
room or shop was called pergula. Ulp. Dig., tabermdam, pergtdavi. 
To the pergula of the upper story Pliny refers, xxi, 3, 6 : Fulvius 
e pergida sua in forum pirospexisse dictus. Lastly, pergula meant, 
generally, any light, airy chamber. Petron. Fragm. Trag. 74. 
Suet. Aug. 94 : //* perguUs tnatliematici artem suam proßtehantur. 

The 7n(sniana were likewise parts projecting beyond the walls 
of the house. Javol. Dig. 16, 242 ; Vitruv. v. 1 ; Fest. p. 134. 
Appellata sunt a Mcenio censore, qui primus in foro idtra columnas 
tigna projecit. See Nonius, ii. 112. In later times they seem to 
have been merely projecting roofs, just like the solaria. Amm. 
Marc, xxvii. 9 ; Salmas. ad Spart. Peso. 12. 

Of the podia less is known. They are often mentioned in 
theatres, only once in a private house. Plin. Ep. v. 6, 22 : Fst et 
aliud cid)iculum, marmore excvltum podio tenus. It does not seem 
to have been a balcony. 

ROOFING. 

The roofs were mostly flat (with the solaria, mentioned above). 
But there were also sloping moh, pectinata, with two long and two 
short sides. Fest. p. 213 : Pectinatum tectum dicitur a similitudine 
jjectinis in dims partes devcxum, id testadinatmn in quatuor. At the 



ScEKE IL] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 269 

two ends of this sort of roof there were either little slanting roofs 
terminating in a point, or gables running up from tlie ground ; 
without any triangular tympanum. So that private houses had, in 
this sense, fastigia, as well as the temples. Cic. ad Quint. Fr. iii. 
1, 4. The regular fastigia, with their abundance of ornaments, 
and quite separated from the wall of the house, were peculiar to 
temples, state-buildings, and palaces. Caesar first obtained this 
right by a decree of the Senate. Flor. iv. 2 ; Plut. Cfes. 91j Suet. 
Cces. 81 ; Cic. PhU. ii. 43. 

The tecta testudinata, sloped on all four sides, with no gable, 
and suited best for square houses. Col. xii. 5. But a roof of this 
kind, of smaller dimensions, was also over the cavsediam. See 
above. Conic roofs are only mentioned by Sidon. Apoll. Ep, ii. 2, 
apice in conutn cacuminato. Carm. xviii. 3. Salmasius {S'part. and 
Exerc. Plin. p. 853) erroneously applies the name tricliorum to 
gable roofs. Stat. Silv. i. 3, 57, partitis didantia tecta trichoris. 
Spart. Peso. Nig. 12. But trichorum (according to the analogy of 
evpvx<^poQ, (jTcvöx^opoc, etc.) can only mean a room with three divi- 
sions, and not with three corners. Hence Casaubon explained it 
to be a house with three wings ; others, a room with three par- 
titions ; and others, a house of three stories. But none of these 
seem suitable. See Hand ad Stat. Silv. i. 3, 39. It is difficult to 
know what is meant by tectum deliciatum. Paul. Diac. p. 73 : 
Eelicia est tignum, quod a cidmine ad tegulas angulares inßmas versus 
fastigatum collocatur. 

Suggrmid(B, or more generally protecta, and projecta^ also pro- 
clinata, were eaves. Ulp. Big. ix. 2, 29, and ix. 3, 5, where a frag- 
ment of the praetor's edict is cited, ne quis in suggrunda proteetove 
id positum, liaheat cujus casus nocere cut possit. The ancient cavsedia 
had such roofs round them (imminentihus tectis, Plin. ^. ii. 17,4). 

The flat roofs had a firm pavement of stucco, stone, or metal. 
The sloping ones were covered with straw and shingles, later, with 
tiles, slates, and metal. The hut of Romulus reminded one of the 
most ancient times. Vitruv. ii. 1, 5 ; comp. Virg. JEn. viii. 654; 
Ovid. Fast. 199. Shingles are mentioned by Pliny, H. N. xvi. 10, 
15: Scandula contectayn fuisse Pomam ad Py)'rhi usque helium^ annis 
CCCCLXX. C. Nepos auctor est. Isidor. xix. 19. The tiles were either 
flat or hollow, tegulm or imbrices ; Isidor.' xiv. 8 ; Non. ii. 433 ; 
Plaut. Mil. Glor. ii. 6, 24. But tegula stands for all sorts of tiles. 
Vitruv. ii. 1, 7, 8 ; Jiiv. iii. 201 ,• and tegulse for a roof, generally, 
Suet. Gramm. 9, sid) tegulis habitant. Cic. Pliil.^ per tegulas. The 
hollow tiles, in the corners, to carry off" the water, were called 
tegulce collicice. Paul. Diac. ilUcium. Cato, R. R. 14. Hence the 



270 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

furrows of tlift plougli were named colliciae, by whicli the water 
was carried into the canals. Col. ii. 8. The terminal imbrices had 
ornamented fronts, imbrices extremti or frontati (originally only on 
the temples). Plin. H. N. xxxv. 12, 43. Numbers of old tegulse 
have been found at Puteoli and Pompeii, some with inscriptions 
(literatae), shewing the name of the maker or the place ; as ex of 

(ficina) o/j(us) /[iglinum] expi^csdiis Cosince. Metal roofing is 

mentioned, Orell. Inscr. 3272, tegulas cstieas auratas. Diavol. Dig. 
16, 242. The beams, spars, and laths, e. g. the ambrices and 
asseres, for carrying the tiles (Paul. Diac. 16), will not be further 
discussed. The space under the roof was sometimes used as a 
hiding-place, as is remarked by Müller and Welcker, who cites 
Tac. Atin. iv. 69 ; Val. Max. vi. 7, 2.] 

THE EEMAINING AERANGEMENTS. 

Having gone through the different parts of the house, we must 
now briefly mention the remainder of the buildings, and the in- 
ternal arrangements. Many of the objects, however, come under 
the head of works of art, and as they are sufficiently discussed in 
another place, a few hints and references may here suffice. 

FLOOR. 

The floor, solum, was never boarded, although Statins, in the 
Sphmristerium of Etruscus, according to the present text, mentions 
planks, tahulata, Silv. i. 5, 57. 

Quid nunc strata solo referam tabulata, crepantes 
Auditura pilas. 
But the proper reading is tubidata, as is evident from the words 
following. Comp. Plin. Ep. ii. 17, 9; Sen. Ep. 90. 

It usually consisted of pavement of rubble, pavimentum (rtide- 
ratio, opus ruderaturti). [Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 25, 61 ; Vitruv. vii. 
1 ; Varro, R. JR. i. 51. The floor was also laid with bricks, or, at 
least, the rubble was mi-xed with pieces of brick, pavimentum or 
opus testaceum, also ostracus and signianum. Plin. ih. ; Vitr, ih. ; 
Isidor. xix. 10 ; Plin. xxxv. 46 : Fractis testis utendo sic, utßrmius 
durent tusis calce addita, quce voccmt signina. One particular sort of 
brick-floor was called testaceum spicatum (ear-shaped). Vitr. vii. 
1, 4.] This probably led to laying the floor with slab-work, [pavi- 
mentum, XiQöo-TpujTov in a wider sense, viz. large four-cornered 
pieces of white or coloured marble. TibuU. iii. 3, 16, marmorcum 
solum. Suet. Ner. %iO, solum poiphyretici mar moris. Sen. JS/?. 90j 



Scene IT.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 271 

Pallad. i. 9. So the atrium, in the house of the Tragic poet, was 
laid with white marble. This was often the case in the lahra and 
piscin(S of the baths. Besides this, there were two finer sorts 
of slab-work, viz. pavim. sectile and tesselatum. Vitruv. vii. 1, 3, 
sive sectilia sen tesset'is. Suet. Cces. 46. Pallad. i. 9, mentions all 
four sorts, vel testaceum (i.e. of baked earth), vel mai'mora, vel tes- 
seras aut scutulas. The pav. sectile was composed of small pieces 
of differently-coloured marble, either squares, or in the shape of 
diamonds and polygons. Vitruv. vii. 1, 4, quadratus seufavis, i. e. 
hexagons or circular. Juv. xi. 173 : 

Qui Laced semonium pytismate lubricat orbem.^ 
Stat. Silv. ii. 2, 88.] Such floors ought not to be called ' mosaic,' 
for in that figures are constructed of a number of single pieces 
placed together ; but, of themselves, representing nothing. Here it 
is different ; for the separate pieces are each of them complete 
figures carved out of marble, and consequently, this is only an in- 
genious specimen of opus sectile. [The second kind, pavim. tesse- 
latum, was the real mosaic, composed of small variously-coloured 
four-cornered stones. Vitruv. ib.) Sen. qu. Nat. vi. 31 ; Plin. H. N. 
xxxvii. 10, 54. This art came to Rome in the sixth century 
from its foimdation. Plin. xxxvi. 25, 61. Cic. Orat. 44, who quotes 
Lucilius : 

ut tesserulae omnes 
Arte, pavimento atque emblemate vermiculato. 
Isidor. xix. 14. The more perfect this art became, the distinction 
between coarse and fine mosaic, between the tesselarii and tmisivariij 
grew stronger. The tesselatum denoted the coarser mosaic, or com- 
bination of stones in geometric forms, so as to make stars, flowers, 
and other figures ; whilst musimim was the finer mosaic, imitating 
painting. The first required only care and workmanlike dexterity, 
the other a knowledge of drawing, shading, and perspective. The 
word musivum occurs first in Spart. Peso. Nig. 6. 

The small slips of divers colours {crustce vermiculatce, ad effigiem 
rerum et animalkmi, Plin, xxxv. 1, 1) were of clay, glass, marble, or 
other sorts of valuable stone. Plin. xxxvi. 25, mentions the first, 
asaroton. Stat. Silv. i. 3, 54 : 

varias iibi picta per artes 
Gaudet humus superare novis asarota figuris. 

Glass, Plin. 64 ; agate, beryl, onyx, Appul. 3Iet. v. p. 159. Sen, Ep. 
86 : Eo deliciarum pei'venitmis, ut nisi gemmas calcare nolimm. 
Lucan. x. 114 ; Claud. Epithal. Hon. 90. 

Zahn has shewn that the use of stone for mosaic was older than 
that of glass In a house at Pompeii two thousand coloured slips 



272 ' THE EOMA^^ HOUSE. [Excursus 1. 

of marble were found on one square foot; and in another, one 
hundred and fifty to the square inch,] Gurlitt, Veher die Mosaik. 
Archceol. Sehr. 159; Minutoli and Klaproth, Ueh. antike Glasmosaik ; 
Ottfr. MueWeT, Archceol. 438; '^temhuQchei, Altertliuinsivissensch. 24, 
give specimens of antique parqueterie and mosaic ; D'Agincourt, 
Histoire de VArt, v. tab, 13 ; Zahn, in his beautiful work, Die 
schönsten Ornamente und Gemälde aus lierkxd. und Pomp. ; Marini, 
tab. 15, 87. The most important of all known antique mosaic 
paintings, is that of the battle of Alexander, discovered in Pompeii, 
24th Oct. 1831. Mus. Borh. viii. t. 36—45. [Others think it a 
battle between Romans and Celts ; others the victory of Attalus I. 
at Pergamus. 

Mosaics were chiefly used for adorning the floor. There are 
some pillars in Pompeii inlaid with coloured glass. Several foun- 
tains are also adorned with rich mosaics, but without figures. It 
was not till the end of the Emperors that the walls and ceilings 
were inlaid with mosaics.] 

THE WALLS. 

The inner walls of the rooms, saloons, and colonnades (in ancient 
times probably only [rough -cast, trusillati, and] white^^' ashed [deal- 
hati, Cic. Verr. i. 55]) were covered with marble slabs, or artificial 
marble. Mamurra (in the time of Catullus) was, according to Pliny, 
the first to set an example of such luxury in his house (H. N. 
xxxvii. 6, 7) : Primtmi Rojnce parietes crusta marmoris operuisse to- 
tius domus sues in Ccelio monte Cornelius Nepos tradidit Mamurram, 
[Sen. JEp. 86, 115 ; Isidor. xix. 13.] The ancients were so expe- 
rienced in the construction of imitation marble, that the tectores 
and marmorarii could even saw slabs of it out of the wall again, 
and use them for tables, Vitr. vii. 3, Paintings, however, were 
much more common as a decoration for the walls ; and even in the 
more insignificant abodes of Pompeii and lierculaneum, we meet 
with this cheerful ornament. This is not the place for inquiring 
when the ancients began to paint on the bare walls. The question 
has been much discussed, but the criticisms on both sides afibrd 
ample room for emendation. The testimony of Pliny (xxxv. 10, 37) 
is important as far as regards private houses. [Pliny does not fix 
the commencement of Roman fresco painting in private houses in 
the time of Augustus ; but only of landscape painting ; so that 
fresco must be assumed to have been older.] This kind of paint- 
ing had been long adopted in Greece before any such ornament 
had been thought of in Rome. The subjects of these wall-paint- 
ings were very varied, from grand historical compositions down to 



Scene II.] THE EOMAN HOUSE. 273 

still-life, Xenia and Arabesque. See Vitruv. vii. o. Zatn, Gell, 
Mazois, Goro, tlie Mus. Borh., give most interesting evidence upon 
the subject. They painted [partly in monocbromatic, Plin. H. N. 
XXXV. 5, 11 ; partly in various colours] less frequently on wetmor- 
tar, alfresco (tido illinere colores, Plin. xxxv. 7 , 31 ; colores udo tecto- 
rio inducere, Vitr. vii. 3, 7), than on a dry ground in distemper, a 
tempera. See Winkelm. W. v. 197. Tbe ground itself was often 
al fresco, tbe rest a tempera. [Originally tbey bad four ground col- 
ours (Cic. Brut. 18 ; Plin. xxxv. 32), viz., wbite (tbe Melian earth 
and prcetonium), red (7'ubrtca, from Cappadocia or Sinopis, and 
minium), yellow {sil, best from Attica), and black (atratnenfum). 
But as fresco painting grew more common in Italy, more brilliant 
and expensive colours were used. Plin. xxxv. 12, colores austeri 
(i. e. the four old ones, autßoridi (the new). Floridi sunt chrysocolla 
(green from co^'^qy), pw'ptirissinnmi {e creta argentaria cmnpurpuris 
pariter tingitur), indicum (indigo), cinnahari (cinnabar), ccerideimi (an 
artificial imitation of the Alexandrian, made at Puteoli), &c. Vitr. 
vii. 7 — 14 ; Isidor. xix. 17. The walls were divided into compart- 
ments of different sizes, which were encircled with very tasteful 
arabesques, compared by Winkelmann to the most beautiful in 
Raphael's loggias. The ground-colours of the centre compart- 
ments and edgings are generally red and black; red and yellow; 
and also blue ; green and yellow ; brownish black and green; green 
and red. The colom-ing is always very decided (Vitruv. vii. 5, 8) ; 
the contrasts between the dark and bright tints very striking. 

The ornaments of the centre fields varied considerably. Vitruv. 
vii. 5, antiqui i7nitati suntprimum crustarum marmorearum varietates 
et collocationes ; deinde coronarmn et silaceorum euneorum varias dis- 
trihutiones. So that wall-painting began with the imitation of marble 
walls. Vitruvius then mentions four kinds : 1. Architectural views, 
(Bdificioru^mfiguras coltimnarumque projecturas. 2, Kepresentationsof 
theatres, scenarum f routes tragico more aut comico. 3. Landscapes, 
pinguntur portus, promontoria, littora, ßumina, fontes^ luci, monies, 
pecora, pastores. The inventor of this landscape painting is said by 
Plin. (xxxv. 37) to have been Ludius, in the time of Augustus. 4. 
Historical compositions, pictures of gods, mythological scenes, sacri- 
fices, &c., ite7n megalographiam hahentem deorwn simulacra, seufahio- 
larum dispositiones,non minus Trojanas pugnas, seu Vlyssis errationes. 
The paintings discovered at Pompeii afford apt illustrations of all 
the above different kinds. The composition of the architectural 
paintings is light and airy. They are richly decortited with wreaths 
of flowers, birds, &c. ; and evince much taste and fancy. Vitruvius 
censures rather too bitterly this taste for architectural drawings, to 

T 



274 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excursus I. 

the neglect of nature. Numbers of warm and animated landscapes 
have likewise been found, such as bunting scenes, waterfalls, and 
gardens J tbougb tbey are not equal to tbe others, the historic 
paintings are often very grand. Thus the suckling of Telephus in 
the presence of Hercules and Omphale ; the taking away of Briseis 
at the command of Achilles ; and in the house of the tragic poet, 
Ariadne at Naxos ; Perseus and Andromeda ; the education of Bac- 
chus, and his victories ; Hercules and Omphale; and an Hermaphro- 
dite, which, in colouring, resembles Titian. Of Gods, Mars and 
Venus occur oftenest. The floating figures in the centre of the 
compartments are replete with grace and beauty ; such as fawns, 
bacchantes, lute-players, genii, dancing girls. In the villa of Cicero 
at Pompeii, discovered 1749, there are twelve dancing girls, floating 
on a dark ground ; fleet, says Winkelmann, as thought, and as lovely 
as if they had been drawn by the hand of the Graces. Many others 
are conspicuous for the graceful flow of the dress and harmonious 
colouring. The light and grouping is, in many instances, worthy of 
commendation. After this last class come scenes of domestic life, 
gmr-e, and still-life paintings (pujTroypaijAa opposed to fieyaXoypafpia); 
such as the household occupation in the fuUonica (see Excurs. II. 
Sc. 8) ) battles of gladiators (Plm. xxxv. 33) ; fish, fruits (called 
Xenia, Philostr. i. 31 ; Vitruv. vi. 7, 4), game, lascivious scenes. 
Suet. Tib. 43 ; Ovid. Trist, ii. 521. Encaustic painting (Plin. xxxv. 
39) was not used to decorate the walls], though ornaments in relief 
seem to have been so. Such at least is the interpretation put on 
Cic. Att. i. 10 : Trceterea typos tibi mando, quus in tectorio atrioli 
possim incluclere, S. Visconti, 3Ius. Pio-Clem. iv. Pvief. 

The common opinion that the ancients were not in the habit of 
fixing mirrors against the walls, or that at least the custom was of 
a late date, requires correction. Hand-mirrors were no doubt used 
in a general way, and the costliness of the material was sufiicient 
cause, at any rate in more ancient times, for not having mirrors of 
large dimensions. But where larger ones are spoken of, we must 
not at once conclude that they are necessarily wall-mirrors. Thus 
Seneca (Quest. Nat. i. 17,) mentions specula totis corjjoribus paria, 
but he appears to have meant only moveable looking-glasses, with 
feet, perhaps to allow of their being moved about. It is going too 
far, entirely to deny the use of wall-mirrors, and there are some 
distinct passages which can be adduced in contradiction to this 
prejudice. When Vitruvius (vii. 3, 10,) says, ipsaque tectoriaaha- 
corum et speculorum circa sc prominentes hahent expressiones ; this 
will not be allowed as a proof, because abacus is understood to be 
the square, and speculum the romid panel, which had a frame-like 



Scene II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 275 

iDorder, but yet could be vegulax tectorimn. It is, liowever, evident 
from Pliny (xxx^-i. 26, 67,) tliat these specula were composed of 
plates of diiFerent kinds of substances, polisbed to serve as mirrors. 
In genere vitri et ohsidiana numerantur^ ad similitudinem lapidisy 
quern in Ethiopia invenit Ohsidius, nigerrimi coloris, aliquando et 
translucidi, crassiore visu, atque in specidis parietum pro imagine 
umbras reddente. 

Vitruvius also mentions mirrors actually suspended (ix. 9). 
Ctesibius enim fuerat Alexandrice natus patre tonsore ; is ingenio et 
industria magna prceter reliquos excellens dictus est ai'tißciosis rebus 
se delectare. Namque cum voluisset in taberna suipatris specidum ita 
pendere, ut, cimi duceretur sursumque reduceretur, linea latens pondus 
deduceret, ita collocavit machinationem. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 9, re- 
cords a specidum parieti affixum. Comp. Isid. Orig. xvi. 15 ; Salm. 
ad Vopisc. Firyn. 694 ; and respecting the material used for the 
mirrors, as well as the question, whether the ancients had them of 
glass or not, see Beckmann, Beitr. z. Gesch, d. Erßnd, iii. 467. 

THE CEILINGS 

were originally composed only of boards laid over the beams, but 
to give them a more elegant appearance, a grate, as it were, of 
rafters was constructed, so that sunk panels arose, lacus, lacunar, 
laquear [and the wood-work was painted, or overlaid with costly 
materials. Sen. Ep. 95 : auro tecta perfmidinius\. These lacimaria 
afterwards received a variety of ornament in stucco, and were also 
inlaid mth ivory and gilded, as in the temples. [Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 
S, 18 ; Hor. Od. ii. 18, 1 : 

Non ebur neque aureum 
Mea renidet in domo lacunar. 
Lucan. x. 112. The artists were called laquearii. Cod. Theod. xiii. 
4, 2,] These panels were in process of time covered over, and the 
ceiling painted, specimens of which are given in Zahn, t. 27, 67. 
Ceilings were also made of rushes, and called camerce, for the con- 
struction of which rules are laid down by Vitruv. viii. 3. [Among 
the luxuries of a later age, was a sort of ceiling for the dining- 
rooms, which was raised, or let down by secret machinery. Sen. 
Ep. 90 and 88 : pegmata per se surgentia, et tabulata tacite in sublime 
crescejitia. Suet. iVe/% 31, tabulce versatiles.^ 

THE DOORS. 
The doors have already been discussed. There were not doors 
to all the rooms, though the cellee, hibernacula, and dormitoria of 
course had them. Hence at Pompeii, there are often no traces of 

T 2 



276 THE ROMAN HOUSE. [Excurscs I. 

hinges. Tlie place of the door was often supplied by a hanging, 
velum, aulcEa, cento, TrapaTrsraajia [the iron rings and pole of which 
are to be met with at Herculaneum and Pompeii]. Lamprid. Alex. 
4 ; Heliog. 14 ; veli cuhicidaris, quod in introitu erat. Sen. Ep. 80 ; 
Plin. Ep. ii. 17 ; Petron. 7. Hence, among the domestics of the 
domus Augusta, were the velarii or a veils. The assertion of Bötti- 
ger, that the ancients had almost all their chambers in the interior 
of their houses shut in with hangings only, is refuted by Terence, 
Eun. iii. 5, 55 ; Heaut. v. 1, 33 ; Plioiinio, y. 6, 66, &c. Sometimes 
curtains, as well as doors, were hung over the entrance. Suet. 
Claud. 10. Sidon. Apoll, iv. Ep. 24, says of one who lived very 
unassumingly, tripodes sellce, Cilicum vela forihus appensa, lectus 
n'Mlhahens pluince. Tacit, ^ww. xiii. 5j Poll. x. 7, 32. Martial 
alludes to such a door-curtain, 1, 35, 5 ; comp. xi. 45. The windows 
also had curtains, besides shutters. 

WINDOWS. 

If we were to judge by the houses in Pompeii, we must conclude 
that the houses of the ancients had no windows at all looking into 
the street, for this is the case there, and when an exception does 
occur, the window is placed so high, that it is quite impossible 
either to look in or out, without mounting to a considerable height. 
The ground-floor being surrounded with tabernoB, or, in their ab- 
sence, hjportiais and amhidationes, it naturally had no windows. In 
the upper stories the case must have been otherwise. Doubtless 
there were windows looking thence into the street, just as well as 
at Athens. See Charicles. Hence they are often mentioned by 
ancient authors. Passages, such as Tibul. ii. 6, 39, ah excelsa prce- 
ceps delapsa fenestra, it is true, demonstrate nothing, as we do not 
know in what sense he was speaking. But Liv. i. 41, is decisive : 
(Tanaquil) ex superiore parte cedium per fenestras popidum allo- 
quitur. So Dionys, iv. 5, and Juv. iii. 270, of the dangers that 
threatened in the streets of Rome : 

Respice nunc alia ac diversa pericula noctis : 
Quod spatium tectis sublimibus, unde cerebrum 
Testa ferit, quoties rimosa et cxu'ta fenestris 
Vasa cadaiit ! qiianto percussum pondere signent 
Et laedant silicem. 

Hence are explained such passages as Horace, i. 25 \ Parcius junctas 
quatiunt fenestras, and the beautiful picture in Propertius, iv. 7, 15 : 
Jamne tibi exciderunt vigilacis fiirta Suburse 

Et mea nocturnis trita fenestra dolis ? 
Per quam demisso quoties tibi fnne pependi, 
Alterna veniens in tua colla manu. 



Scene II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 277 

Martial (i. 87) says : Vicinus mens est, manuque tangi De nostris 
Novius i^otest fenestris, but it is doubtful whether we are to imagine 
an angipoHus or the windows of one house. More definite testi- 
mony to the custom in Greece, is found in Aristoph. Eccles. 961, 
where the youth says to the maiden at the window, ica-acpafiovaa 
rav^vpav avoiiov. Liyy also says (xxiy. 21): pars proctirritinxias, 
pars in vestibtdis stat, imrs ex tectis fenestrisque prospectant, et quid 
rei sit rogitant. In the Mostellaria of Plautus, iv. 2, 27, where 
slaves wish to fetch away their master, and Theuropides asks : quid 
volunt f qidd introspectant f nobody would suppose that he alluded 
to crevices in the door, or a key-hole. So also Vitruv. v. 6: comiccB 
autem (^CQU'e^^ cedißciorum jorivatorum et menianorum hahent sjjecietn, 
prospectusque fenestris dispositos imitatione coinjnuniwn cedißciormn 
rationihus. And how are we otherwise to explain the orders of the 
police, (Dig. ix. tit. 3,) de his qui effuderint vel dejecerint. But we 
must consider the windows to have been both small (hence called 
rim(s, Cic. ad Att. ii. 3) and placed high. They had also sometimes 
gratings, dathri. Plaut. Mil. ii. 4, 25 ; Winkelm. W. ii, 250. Most 
of the smaller apartments, and those lying around the cavum csdium, 
received only a scanty light through the doors ; the larger ones, as 
already mentioned, through openings in the roof. 

In more ancient times, it is possible that the windows were un- 
fastened openings, at the most secured by shutters [or vela, Plin. 
JEp. vii. 21. In some store-rooms with nets. Varro, H. M. iii. 7: 
fenestris reticidatis. Thus, at least, is best explained, Ovid. Am. 
\. 5. 

Pars adaperta fuit, pars altera clausa fenestrae. 

Juv. ix. 105 : Claude fenestras, vela iegant rimas. Plin. Ep, ix. 36 ; 
Sen. Consol. ad Marc. 22 ; Appul. Met. ii. p. 57.] At a later period 
the h^jis specidaris (talc) was much used, and is often alluded to. 
Plin. Ep. ii. 17 : Egregiam hce (portions) adver sum tempiestates re- 
ceptactdum ; nam specularihus ac multo magis tectis imminentihtis 
muniuntur. If Seneca (Ejj. 90) were strictly followed, the specu- 
laria which enclosed this colonnade would not be admissible in 
reference to the time of Gallus ; but Hirt has shown that the words 
nostra memoria must not be taken strictly for the stispensurce bal- 
neorum, which are also included, as described by Yitruvius : and 
Plin. ix. 54, 79, ascribes their invention to Sergius Orata, in the 
time of L. Crassus the orator. Why Hirt calls this passage a doubt- 
ful one, is not very apparent, as Macrobius (Sat. ii. 11) says : Sic 
est Sergius Orata, qui primus halneas pensiles habuit. The most that 
could be pronounced on it is this ; that in respect of xxvi. 3, 8, 
Pliny has contradicted himself. To be convinced of the early use 



27 8 THE KOMAX HOUSE. [Excukstis I. 

of windo\r-panes, we have only to consider the Cyzicenian saloon, 
wliicli on three sides had glass-doors (vahce) or windows reaching 
to the ground ; and it is not comprehensible how these can he sup- 
posed without specularia. In that case it would have been a very 
draughty house. But Vitruvius also describes it. The question, 
whether the ancients had also window-glass, was formerly answered 
in the negative, but of late there has been no further doubt about 
the matter, and the windows and panes of glass discovered in Pom- 
peii are surer evidence than all the testimonies of late writers. 
See Winkelm. W. ii. 251 ; Gell's Pompeicma, i. 99 ; Hirt, Gesch. der 
Bank. iii. 66 (who perhaps goes too far). \Transenna is explained 
2i& fenestra by Non. ii. 859 ; and Cic. de Or. i. 35, says: quasi per 
transennam prcBtereuntes strictim adspeximus. But it is doubtful 
whether it was a latticed window, or, as Botticher supposes, an 
opening in the roof to light the room. 



METHOD OF WARMING. 

The ancients resorted to more than one expedient for warming 
the rooms in winter, although they had no proper stoves. In 
the first place, the cubicula and triclinia, in which they lived in 
winter, were so situated as to have plenty of sun, and this, with the 
mildness of their climate, partially served their purpose. Besides 
they had fire-grates, though perhaps not on the same principle 
as ours. Suet. Vit. 8, nee ante in pra;toriifm rediit, quamßagrante 
triclinio ex conceptu caminij Hor. Sat. i, 5, 81 ; Udos cum foliis 
ramos urente camino : Hor. Epist. i. 11, 19, Sextile mense caminus. 
[Plin. H. N. xvii. 11, 16 ; Sidon. Ap. Ep, ii. 2 ; Isidor. xix. 6. 
Caminus estfornax.'] In this sense we must also understand /o«/s 
(afovendo), (Hor. Od. i. 9. 5) ligna super foeo large repcniens, and 
in other places. The rooms were also warmed by means of pipes, 
conducted to them from the hypoccmstum. See Winkelm. W. ii. 
253 ; or there were near the apartments in occupation, small rooms, 
heated by a hypocaustum, and by means of an opening which could 
be closed at pleasure, warm air was introduced into the room, 
Plin. Ep. ii. 17 : Applicitum, est cuhiculo Jiypoccmston perexiguum, 
quod angusta fenestra suppositum calorem, ut ratio exigity aut effmulit 
aut retinet. Ibidem : Adh<sret dormitoi'ium memhrum,, transitu in- 
terjacente, qui suspensus et tubulatus conceptum vaporem salubri tem- 
peramento hue illucque digei'it et ministrat. They used coal-tubs and 
portable stoves — specimens of which have been discovered in Pom- 
peii, and are represented in the following engravings. 



SoENE II.] THE ROMAN HOUSE. 



279 




[In warming apparatus of this kind the fuel used was charcoal, 
or dry wood, as being least likely to smoke.] 

Whether the ancients had chimneys or not, is a disputed point. 
The usual opinion, shared by Beckmann, Beitrag, ii. 391 ; Voss, ad 
Virg. Georg, ii. 242 ; Heind. ad Hor. Sat. i. 5, 81, is that the 
smoke was not drawn off by means of a flue, but by openings in the 
roof, windows, and door ; and such passages as Vitruv. viii. 3, 4, 
Conclavibus, aut uhi ignis, aut plura lumina stmt pojienda, purcB fieri 
dehent (coronae) ut eo facilius extergeantur : in cestivis et exedris, uhi 
minimefumus est nee fidigo potest nocere, ihi ccelatce sunt faciendce, 
seem to favour this view of the question. But Fea ad Winkehn. W. 
ii. 347, after Scamozzi, deW Archit. i. lib. 3, c. 21, has shown that 
the use of flues was not unknown to the ancients, and that even real 
grates have been discovered in the ruins of ancient buildings. 
Comp. Mus. JBorb. v. t. 40. 

At Pompeii, chimneys are onty to be met with in baths and 
bakehouses ; but in Home and North Italy, where it was a colder 
climate, they were used also for dwelling-houses ; at least in the 
days of luxury and refinement. [In the most ancient times but 
little was known of chimneys ; whence the old atria were often 
disfigured with smoke ; but the lodging and working rooms soon 
began to have both grate and chimney. Hor, Sat. i. 5, 80 : 
lacrimoso non sine fumo, 
Udos cum foHis ramos urente camino, 



280 THE EOMAIS" HOUSE. [ExcuRsrs I. 

does not disprove this; for with such precious fuel the "best chimney 
would smoke. The wood smeared with mmccra (Hor. Od. iii, 17, 
13; Mart. xiii. 15, acapna; Plin. H. N. xv. 8; comp. Mart. xiii. 
30, Fumoso Decemhri) was used for portable stoves, which of course 
had no flues ; besides which, in some houses, which were low, the 
chimney was not high enough to cause a good draught. Virg. jEn. 
xii. 569, fumantia culmina ; and Ed. i. 82, villarum cvlmina fu- 
mant, show nothing one way or the other. Eif/. viii. 5, 8, is more 
in favour of than against flues. 

CONCLUDING KEMAEKS. 

Heee follow a few hints on the characteristics of the Koman 
house. 

1. The area of the house was not always boimded by right 
lines or rectangles ; as is clear from Plan B, This arose from the 
irregular course of the streets round the house, upon which its 
shape was nearly always made to depend. 

2. The exterior of the Eoman domus, the ornaments of the 
interior notwithstanding, was somewhat paltry; partly owing to its 
great lowness, partly owing to the smallness or utter absence of the 
windows, and, lastly, to tlie irregularity of the building ; only a 
portion.of which had an upper story, which gave the whole an un,- 
symmetrical look. 

3. The interior, on the contrary, was very magnificent ; its 
chief peculiarity being the way in which the several rooms were 
arranged. These were always grouped round an open room, 
(atrium, cavum sedium, peristyl) ; which served as a common focus. 
This court, with its surrounding rooms, formed a separate division 
in itself ; and the greater the house, the oftener was this construc- 
tion repeated. The usual lodging and sleeping rooms are small ; 
but the courts or halls, destined for the reception of visitors, on a 
large scale. It is through these courts that the rooms received 
light and air ; an arrangement which also preserved them from 
draughts. The inmate did not see before him the lively throng of 
the streets without, still the prospect of the inner courts, with their 
groLips of trees and lawns, was very fine. What a magic effect must 
have been produced when all the doors and curtains were thrown 
back, and the eye could reach from the ostium through the three 
courts, adorned with their marble columns, splashing fountains, 
shady trees, and gleaming walls ; all grouped in the most charming 
perspective ; and overhead the deep blue of an Italian heaven !] 



EXCUESUS IL SCENE IL 



THE MANNEE OF FASTENING THE DOOES. 

AMONG the least intelligible passages in ancient authors, are 
those wMcli relate to some nieclianism unknown to the moderns. 
If express descriptions, such as those of Vitruyius and Hero, and of 
the hydraulic machines of Ctesibius, are difficult to be understood, 
we are still more at a loss to give a satisfactory explanation, when 
casual mention merely is made of something well known at the 
time, let its mechanism have been ever so simple. This is espe- 
cially the case when the locks or fastenings of the door are men- 
tioned. Boettiger (Kunstmytli. i. p. 271) says with some truth, that 
' the art of the locksmith is one which still requires much elucida- 
tion ; and a perfect system of the ancient technology, chiefly after 
the Onomasticon of Pollux, remains to be written,' yet the system 
of nomenclature in Pollux will least contribute to clear up our 
difficulties. 

Our examination must not only begin with the most ancient 
Greek period, concerning which Homer gives very important hints, 
but must also comprehend the East, as the origin of keys is pro- 
bably to be sought for in Phoenicia. This point has partly been 
discussed in the more important writings on this subject, especially 
Salmas. Exercitt. p. 649 ; Sagittarius, De Jan. vett, 9 — 15 ; Molin, 
De clavihus vetermn, inSallengre, T7iess.cmU.Iiom.ni.796; Montfauc. 
Antiq. expl. iii. i. t. 54, 55. The oldest method of fastening cannot 
be referred to that in use at Rome ; and we shall here chiefly ex- 
plain such terms as obex, sera, repagula, jjessuli, clmisti-a. 

The method of fastening varied according to the form of the 
doors themselves, whether they opened inwards or outwards, or 
were folding-doors (bifores), or opened like window-shutters (valvce). 
Varro : Valvce sunt, quce revolvmitur et se velant. 

Folding-doors were (at least in private houses) the most com- 
mon. When they opened inwards, the most simple method of 
fastening them was by drawing across a bar or wooden bolt, sera 
[also patibHlum]. See Nonius, i. p. 41 ; [Varro, L. L. vii. 108 ;] Ovid, 
East. i. 265 ; and v. 280, Tota patet clemta Janua nostra sera ; for 
this bolt was not fastened to the door-post, but entirely removed, 
when the door was unfastened. Petron. 16. The usual expression 
for such bolting is opponere, or apponere seram, i. e. obserare. The 
sera rested on the door-post, as we learn from Ovid. Amor, i, 6, 



282 MANNER OF FASTENING THE DOORS. [Excursus I. 

where, by postis, in connexion with exctitere, we cannot understand 
the door. [At Pompeii, hollows are frequently seen in both the 
door-posts, for the reception of this cross-bolt.] We cannot dis- 
tinguish between the sera and the obex, further than that the latter 
word is a more general expression for everything placed before the 
door [Virg. Georg, iv. 422, Ohice sajri; Sil. Ital. iv. 23], but must 
not refer it to any particular contrivance. Hence we have in Festus,. 
Ohices pessuli, seres. But the repagula were something of another 
sort 5 see Festus, 281, from whom we may conclude, by the words 
]mtefaciundi gratia, that it was a contrivance which allowed of the 
door being opened with less trouble than by the sera, and that, as 
the name occurs only in the plural, a cross-beam is not denoted by 
it, as by the sera, but two bolts meeting from opposite sides [usually 
of wood, Plin. H. N. xvi. 42, 82], whence Festus says, e contrario 
oppanguntur. In that case some means of joining the two together 
would be required, and perhaps this was effected, as among the 
Greeks, with a ßdXavog (a pin), which being sunk into a hollow 
(ßaXavodoKr]), connected the bolt with the door, and being itself 
hollow, was drawn out again when the door was to be opened, by 
means of an instrument (ßaXaväypia), that fitted into it. A similar 
contrivance was requisite also when the door opened outwards, 
where a bolt within would have been of no use, imless it were con- 
nected with the door. 

This pin (ßäXavog) is commonly supposed to be the same as that 
which the Romans called pessulus, but with the exception of the 
words of Marcellus Empiricus, cited by Sagittarius, we know of no 
other passage that would not militate against, rather than favour, 
this assumption. See Plaut. Aid. i. 2, 25, occlude sis fores amhohus 
pessidis ; Ter, HeauL ii. 3, 37 ,• Eim. iii. 5, 55; Appul. Met. i. 44, Oiid. ; 
49, 52, Suhdita clam pessidos reduco \ iii. p. 199 : ix. p. 631. It is 
evident that something different from a hollow pin, which was sunk 
into the opening of the sera, is meant j we can neither reconcile 
therewith the expression ^?essMZ^^m ohdere forihus, and the oppessidata 
janua so frequently occurring in Appuleius, nor does it appear why 
the plural pessidi is used. The nature of the ancient locks is not 
quite clear from Appuleius, but there can be no doubt that by 
pessuli we must understand bolts which could be moved backwards 
and forwards by a key. See Salmas. Exercitt. ad Sol. p. 650, whence 
it appears that pessuli cannot be confounded with sera and ßäXavoc, 
nor clavis with ßaXavdypa. 

In Terence, by pessulus may be understood a single bolt which 
was pushed forwards and backwards without a key. In Appuleius, 
on the contrary, the pessuli (a double bolt moved by a key) could 



Scene IL] MANIS-ER OF FASTENING THE DOORS. 283 

not be drawn back witbout using tbe key; in tbe latter case we 
bave tberefore to understand real covered locks ; and wben we read 
ad dmisfra pesstdi recurrunt, claustra means tbe lock-basp into wbicli 
tbe bolts sbut. 

All doors wbich were opened and fastened from witbout naturally 
bad sucb locks. For bouse-doors tbey were not so necessary, as 
somebody always remained inside to open tbem. But in case one 
wisbed to open tbe door from outside, tbere was a bole in tbe door, 
tbrougb wbicb tbe band was inserted, in order to draw back tbe 
bolt by means of tbe key, as is tbe case in Appiil. Met. iv. p. 359 ; 
Petron. 94. 

In cupboards, and places of tbat sort, sucb a bole would bave 
been very inconvenient ; and for tbis reason tbey were fastened from 
witbout ; tbe same was tbe case witb otber doors, and even bouse- 
doors, as we see in Plaut. Most. ii. 1, 57. Tranio wisbes to make 
Tbeuropides, on bis return, believe tbat tbe bouse was no longer 
inbabited ; bence be fastens tbe door outside, baving already or- 
dered Pbilolacbes to do tbe same witbin. Botb are done (v. 78). 
Tbere must tberefore bave been a double lock on tbe door, or tbe 
fastening took place witbin by means of tbe sera or repagula, from 
witbout by a proper door-lock. A person standing before tbe door 
must bave been able to perceive wbetber it was fastened outside, or 
tbere would bave been no necessity for Tranio to lock it. Tbe 
tbree-tootbed key is considered of Lacedaemonian invention, for 
wbicb reason it was called davis Laconica. As far as its use among 
tbe Romans is concerned, tbe date of tbe invention is of no conse- 
quence, as tbis took place long before tbe time from wbicb our 
accounts of tbe domestic life of tbe Romans are dated. 

[Avellino ürst made us acquainted witb anotber metbod of 
fastening tbe doors, viz., by two bolts, one on tbe upper part of tbe 
door wbicb was sbot into a boUow in tbe lintel, one on tbe lower 
part, wbicb sbot into tbe sill. Tbis was generally used for folding- 
doors and sbutter-doors, tbe bolt sbooting into a ring in tbe floor. 
Tbe last-mentioned door required tbis sort of mecbanism to keep 
it in a straigbt line wben sbut. An instance of tbe kind is to be 
seen in tbe two tabernae of tbe bouse of tbe Bronzes, and in tbe 
tablinum of tbe bouse of tbe ornamented capitals. Tbe name of this 
bolt, wbich was moved vdtbout a key, was pessulus. Plaut. Anlul. 
above; Cist. iii. 18, Ohdudite cedes pessidis ; Cure. i. 2, 60; Ter. 
Hemd, above ; Marcell. Empir. 17, Foramine in quo januce pessuli 
descendunt] Polyb. xv. 30, Ovpag «Tro/cXfio/jäj'ot- dirrolg jLiox^o^c.'] 

Tbere was likewise an old, though not very general, custom of 
sometimes sealing tbe doors (obsignare cellas), Plaut. Cas. iii. 1, 1. 



284 MANNER OF FASTENING THE DOORS. [Excursus IT. 

[Plin. H. N. : At nunc ciU quoqiie acpotus anulo vindicantur a rapina. 
Among tlie Greeks only were the chambers of the women sealed. 
Aristoph. Tliesmoph. 414 ; Plat, de Leg. xii. p. 954.] Cicero's mother 
sealed even the empty bottles. -4<^i^«m. xvi. 26: Lagenas etiam 
inanes obsignabat, ne dicer entur manes aliqucB ftiisse, qi«B furtim es- 
sent exsiccatce. [Pers. Sat. vi. 17 ; Martial ix. 88.] In Plant. Wd. 
iii. 2^ it is otherwise. 



EXCUESUS TIL SCENE IL 



[THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 

TT7 E shall liere take liousehold utensils in a wider signification 
* ^ tlian that conveyed under the Roman supellex -, which ac- 
cording to Pomp. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 1, was understood to mean do- 
mesticum jmtrisfam. instrumentum, quod neque argento aurove facto 
vel vesti admimeraüir. So Alfen. ib. Q, and Tubero in Cels. 7. §. 1, 
whence we see that, originally, the term did not include gold and 
silver, until the times of increased luxury, when the material was 
disregarded. Celsus. ib. Thus Pauli, enumerates as articles of 
supellex, tables, chairs, benches, lecti, lamps, all sorts oivasa, pelves, 
aqidminaria, etc., whether of precious metal or other valuable 
material, {crystallina, argentea., vitrea, murrliina. See Sen. Up. 110, 
gemmeam supellectilem. Pauli, rec. sent. iii. 6, 67), cupboards and 
so forth ; Dig. ib. 8, 9, and Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19. 

A distinction was made by the Romans, between these utensils, 
and the instnimentmn, as it was called, i. e. (Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12), 
apparatus rerum diidius mansurarum, sine quibus exerceri nequiret 
possessio-, e. g.in a farm, all the dead and live stock and the slaves ; 
in a baker's shop, every thing necessary for carrying on that business ; 
in a tavern, all the requisite vessels ; Pauli, rec. sent. iii. 6, 61 ; in a 
house (according to Pegasus and Cassius) fire-engines, cleaning 
instruments, and so forth. Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12. Other jurists, 
however, include under the instrumentum of a house the whole of 
the supellex ; as Neratius and Ulpian ; Cic. de Orat. i. 36, in 
oratoris instrwnento tarn lautam supellectilem mmquam videram ; 
Suet. Oct. 71, 73 ; Tib. 36 ; Cal. 39. This would comprehend the 
furniture, cupboards, chests, vessels for liquids, lighting-apparatus, 
clocks, kitchen and cleansing utensils.] 

According to the ideas of the moderns, the Roman rooms would 
seem rather bare of furniture. They had no writing tables, or 
cheffbniers, no mirrors to cover the painted walls. Lecti, tables, 
chairs, and candelabra comprised the whole of the furniture, with 
the exception, now and then, of a water-clock, or a coal-pan in 
winter. At the same time, the little they had was replete with 
elegance and splendour. 

LECTUS 

[Paul. Diac. p. 115 ; Varro, L. L. v. 166], was neither exactly 
a bed, nor a sofa, but a simple frame with a low ledge at the 



286 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excuksus IIL 

head. It was sometimes of wood, [Ter. Adelph. iv. 2, 46 : Sen. 
Up. 95 ; Hor. Ep. i. 5, 1, Archiacis lectis ; GelLxii. 2, Soterici lecti,'] 
among the rich of cedar or terebinth, Prop. iii. 7, 49 • Pers. i. 52 • 
Plin. H. N. XTi. 43 ; hut frequently of brass, Cic. Verr. iv. 26, 
lectos (Bratos ; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 3, 8, triclinia cerata : which does 
not mean wooden frames with brass legs, (as it does in Plin. xxxiv. 
2, 4, and perhaps in Liv. xxxix. 6), since Pliny is enumerating 
only articles of massive metal. The wooden lecti were inlaid with 
ivory, tortoise-shell, and precious metals, and provided with ivory, 
silver and gold feet. In Odyss. xxiii. 199, 

SatSaA.Ä.w^' xpvcrc^ re Kcä apyvfja r^'S' ixdcpavri, 
applies to the bed of Ulysses ; how much more to that of the 
HomanSjin comparison with whose magnificence, the most excessive 
luxury of all ages is but poor and insignificant ! 

[Inlaying with precious materials is often mentioned. Plin. 
I£. H. ib. ix. 11 ; xxxiii. 11 ; Suet. Cal 32 ; Javol, Die/, xxxii. 100, 
lectos testudineos pedibus inarffentatos ; Pauli, xxxiii. 10, 3; elsewhere, 
lecti aurei, aurati, eburnei, argentei, etc. ; Oic. Tusc. v. 21 ; Suet. 
Cces. 49 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 103 ; Juv. vi. 80 ; Plaut. Stich, ii. 2, 53 ; 
Plin. H. N. xxxvii. 2 ; Sen. Ep. 110 ; Vop. Firm. 3 ; Varro, L. L. 
ix. 47, lectos alios ex ebore alios ex testudine, i. e. veneered, not solid ; 
which last was rare. At least the bedsteads of Heliogabalus caused 
surprise, being solido argento. Lampr, Hel. 20. See Spart. M\. 
ver. 5.] 

This frame was strung with girths, called sometimes restes, at 
others /«sc«(«, and again institce. This is the tenia cidjilia of Horace, 
Epod. xii. 12 ; Cic. de Div. ii. 65 ; Mart. v. 62 : 

Nulla tegit fractos nee inanis culcita lectos, 
Putris et abrupta fascia reste jacet. 
Petr. c. 97. [Cato, JR. E. 10, lectos loris sidttentos.'] The stupid wit 
in Aristoph. alludes to this, Av. 812. 

On the girths lay the mattress or bed, z^or«/«, 'called, later, cidcita. 
[See Varro, i. L. v. 167 ; Isid. xx. 1 ; Serv. ad Virg. Mn. ii, 27.] 
The usual and genuine tomentum, with which beds and cushions 
were stuffed, was locks of wool. [Tac. Ann. vi, 23 ; Suet, Tib. 54.] 
Pliny, (viii. 48, 73), derives this usage of wool from Gaul, but with- 
out being able to fix the date of its introduction. In olden times 
they had nothing but straw-mattresses, and in later also the poorer 
classes stuffed their beds with chopped sedge (idva) or hay. Mart, 
xiv, 160 : 

Tomentum concisa palus Circense vocatur : 
Hgec pro Leuconico stramina pauper emit. 
[Ov. 3Ict. viii. 655: Fast. v. 519 j Mart. xiv. 162; Sen. de vita 



Scene IL] THE HOUSEHOLD UTEXSILS. 2S7 

heata, c. 25 ; [Plin. xxvii. 10. Culcita does not always denote the 
bed on which one lay, but a cushion. Varro, L. L. v. 167, derives 
it ah inculcando, quod in eas (culcitas) acus aid tomentmn aliudve 
quid calcabant. Isid. xix. 26] ; Plaut. Mil. iv. 4, 42 ; Petr. c. 38. 
At a later period, the voluptuous Roman became dissatisfied with 
wool, and not only the cervicalea, but also the torus, began to be 
stufied with feathers. The feathers and down of white geese were 
used ; but above all, as among us, the eider-down ; those of the 
small white German geese, gantce, were highly valued, so that pre- 
fects would send out whole cohorts to hunt them ; and their feathers 
were sold at five denarii the pound. Plin, Epist. x. 22, 27 ; Cicero, 
Tuscul. iii. 19, speaks of a culcita plumea. [ Juv. vi. 88 : 

Sed quamquam in magnis opibus plumaque paterna 
Et segmentatis dormisset parrula cunis.] 

Swan's-down also was used, Mart. xiv. 161. [Heliogabalus even 
used the ^jlunias perdicum suhalares, Lamprid. Heliog. 19.] The 
torus was also stuffed with feathers, Mart. xiv. 159 : 

Oppressse nimium vicina est fascia plumse ? 
Vellera Leuconicis accipe rasa sagis, 

[and xii. 17 ; see below.] And no doubt the ^^ß^^siles j^lwncB of the 
litter, Juv. i. 159, are to be understood in this sense. How different 
was a Roman bed of this description from the softest couch of the 
Greeks, as described by Homer, who mentions no bolster or cushion 
even in the most wealthy abode ! At the head lay one or more 
small pillows of a round shape, 2Ji(lvini, on which they rested the 
elbow, Sen. de Ira, iii. 37, also called cervicalia, i. e. cushions for the 
head, Isid. xix. 26. 

Over the bed, coverlets, vestes stragulce, stragula [a sternendo, 
Varro, L. L. v. 167 ; also pallia, operimenta and opercula, Varro, ib. ; 
jjeristromata tapeta, Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 25], were spread, and among 
the more wealthy purple coverlets, conchy Hat a, conchy Ho tincta, 
which were adorned with interwoven and embroidered figures, Ba- 
hylonica and Ahwandrina. See Heind. adHor. Sat. ii. 3, 118. ^ We 
may infer from Cicero, Verr. iv. 26, how great was the number of 
such coverlets in many a supellex. Compare Philipp, ii. 27. [See 
Vitruv. vi. 10 ; Macrob. ii. 9 ; Lamprid. Heliog. 19 ; Suet. Oct. 73 ; 
Ovid. Metcnn. viii. 656.] Martial, ii. 16, makes an excellent joke on 
the vanity of Zoilus, who pretended to be ill, that he might show 
his visitors the coccina stragula of his bed, which he probably had 
just received from Alexandria. [Appul. Met. x. p. 248, and 256 : 
Lectus Indica testudine perlucidus, plumea congerie tumidus, veste 
serica ßoridus. These coverlets were often so voluminous that 



288 THE HOUSEHOLD UTE^^SILS. [Excursus III. 

notliing was to be seen of the cusliions and bedstead.] The pulvini 
were covered with silk^ Mart. iii. 82, 7 : 

Effultus ostro sericisque pulvinis. 

Hor. Epod. 8, 15 : LiheUi Stoici inter sericos jacere imlvillos amant. 
But in Cic. p. 3Iur. 36 : Lectuli Pimicani hcedinis pellibus strati. 
See Sen. Ep. 95. EiFeminacy arrived at such a pitch that the cer- 
vicalia were covered with feather- tapestry, the work of the plumarii. 

The meaning of the term plumarius is very obscure ; the expla- 
nation of Sahnasius ad Vopisc. Carin, has been generally adopted. 
Phcnias vocarunt veteres notas ex auro vel purpura rotundas et in mo- 
dum phmiaruni factas (?), quihusvestes intertexehantur ac variabantur. 
Again, clavos intextos aureos, qucB irXov^ia GrcBci recentiores vocabant 
— a plumis igitur Ulis, hoc est clavis, quihus vestes intertexehantur, plu- 
marii textores dicti, non solum qui clavos vestihus insuerent et intexerent, 
sed qui quocunque genere picturce, quihuscunque coloribus et ßguris 
variatas vestes pingerent. The latter assertion, however, wants proof, 
but was indispensable to his explanation. 

PkmiatcB vestes are garments, the ground of which was figured 
with gold embroidery. Why the notce embroidered on them came 
to be called plumse; is still a question ,• but the proofs that this was 
the case are unequivocal. Publ. Syrus, Petr. 55 ; Lucan, x. 125. 
The ornament is always designated as golden, but the embroidery 
is never mentioned as being executed in divers colours; and when 
the Glossaries translate plumarius by ttoik-iXd'/c, it does not convey 
that idea. The toga p)icta is also embroidered with gold, Appian, 
Pun. and variare auro is a common expression — therefore it would 
be wrong to»infer from the Scholion ad Lycoph. that TrXoi'i^iapiKul is, 
embroidered in various colours, particularly as in that case it would 
not be mentioned, besides the irtTroiKiKjifvoi. Salmasius misquotes 
Firmicus Maternus, iii. 13, 10, and from this decides upon the work 
of the plumarii ; but that Firmicus, by plumarii, did not mean 
fabricators of gold-embroidered garments, is plain, from his always 
denoting these by periphrasis, iii. 36—12. Of whatever form the 
plumae were, whether, as Salmasius supposes, clavi or orbiculi, the 
plumatse vestes were in every case gold-embroidered. Varro, in 
Nonius, ii. p. 616, expressly distinguishes the plumarius from the 
textor. Moreover, if his business consisted merely in sewing on 
notes rottmdce, clavi (and nXovn'ia can only be explained tobe some- 
thing of this sort), then the art required was not very great ; and 
what need was there didicisse pingere in order to understand it ? 
And how unsuitable would gold embroidery have been for pulvi- 
naresplagce, for which the softest stuffs possible were used. Mar- 



Scene IL] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 289 

tial, iii. 82, 7. Still less can we reconcile witli tlie above expla- 
nation the passage of Vitruvius (B. yi. 7), where the workshops of 
the plumarii are called textrince. Their business then was not to 
adorn with embroidery garments already made, but to weave in some 
peculiar manner; and there is nothing about gold, but about colours, 
which must be kept from the sun that they may not fade. 

The expression seems to require some other explanation, and 
however near the connexion may seem to be between plumarius and 
phmiata vestis, still Varro and Vitruvius probably allude to an en- 
tirely different kind of work. In the Glossaries plumarius is trans- 
lated by TTTiXoßärjwg (feather-dyer), which Salmasius changes into 
ipiXoßdcpoc, in which ßciirrtiv is to denote variare generally, as well 
as to embroider ! If printing in colours had been alluded to, then 
this would have been possible. But ßän-Tiiv cannot have this signi- 
fication, any more than the Romans would have said tinyere vestes, 
instead of acu pingere. On the contrary -riKoßaTTT')]Q appears very 
correct. When Martial, xii, 17, says of a fever that will not leave 
Lentulus, because he takes too good care of it, dormit et in pluma 
ptirpureoque toro, this may no doubt be understood of the feathers 
with which in later times the cushions were stuffed. But the 
same explanation will hardly suit Epig. xiv. 146, Lemma Cervical : 
Tinge caput nardi folio ; cervical debit : 

Perdidit unguentum cum coma, pliima tenet, 
for the ointment could only be commimicated to the pillow-case. 
Still less could it be admissible, with Böttiger, Sabina, to imder- 
stand what Propertius says of Pastus, EffulUim pluma versicolor e 
caput, iii. 7, 50, as alluding to cushions which were stuffed with 
feathers of divers colours. On these grounds I am inclined to 
believe that the plumarii prepared real feather-tapestry, with which 
the pulvini and cervicalia were covered ; and the same is probably 
meant by Tnipiorä Kai TV-iXiorä TrpoaKcipdXaia. Poll. X. 1, 10. If in 
modern days we have succeeded in constructing from coloured 
feathers tapestry of a very durable nature, covered with all sorts 
of emblems, why should not the ancients^ who certainly in many 
things showed greater cunning of hand than we do, obtain credit 
for equal ingenuity ? Seneca, Ep. 90, also speaks of garments 
even, made of feathers; and plumarius and TmXoßäcpog (ivom. pluma ; 
if from plumare, it would be pihimator), is he who works in feathers, 
as lanarius, he who works in wool, argentarius in silver, &c. 

[Though Becker has proved beyond a doubt, that plumatte 
vestes denote stuffs of feather-embroidery, and plumarii the manu- 
facturers of the same ; yet it is uncertain whether these stuffs were 
used for pillow-cases. For, without dwelling on the fact, that such 

U 



290 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

coverings would be ill-adapted for cushions, eitlier for sitting or 
lying upon ; nothing of the kind can he gathered from the passages 
cited. In Martial, xiv. 149, lüuma tenet refers to the feathers inside 
the pillow, which, from the thinness of the case, become easily- 
tainted by the ointment, and smell of it. The words of Propertius, 
versicolore plurna, may either be considered a metonymy, and would 
then denote the party-coloured cover of a feather cushion, (as tori 
picti. Virg. yE'w. i. 708, and toro purpureo, Ovid. Heroid. v. 88, 
refer, not to the colour of the torus, but only to that of the case 
or coverlet), or it may mean actual coloured feathers, with which 
the cushion is stuffed, and which shine through the thin case 5 an 
explanation approved by Herzberg, who quotes Cic. Verr. v. 11 : 
Pidvhms perlucidus Melitensis, rosa fartus.'] 

We must draw a distinction between the coverlets (stragtfla) 
and the toralia ; and we do not understand how Heindorf on Horace 
{Sat. ii. 4, 84, referring at the same time to Epist. i. 5, 21), could 
say, * In both cases toral, toralia, is evidently a case or covering of 
the purple stuff cushions (tori) of the sofas.' [This was originally 
the general idea : see Turneb. Adv. i. 24 ; Ciaccon. detriclin. p. 16.] 
Petronius (40) is sufficient to controvert this. The chief dish, 
the boar, was going to be served up, and Trimalchio caused the 
triclinium suddenly to receive an exterior covering, referring to the 
chase ; and the hounds were at the same time admitted into the 
apartment. We need only reflect, that the whole of the guests lay 
upon the lecti, when the slaves toralia p)roponunt, to be convinced 
that the word cannot mean covers spread over the couches. On 
the contrary, it signifies hangings, with which the lectus was draped 
from the torus to the floor ; hence Horace says circtim Tyriasvestes 
(purpureum torum) dare illota toralia. See Casaubon on Lamprid. 
Heliog. 19 ; Pauli. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 5. [This explanation is entirely 
corroborated by Varro, L. L. v. 167, contra Latinum toral, quod 
ante torum. In Non. however (i. 35) it may mean the hangings of 
the lectica.] 

The bed of the ancients, lectus cuhicidaris, was higher than the 
lectus tricliniaris [see Excursus on the Triclinium]; Lamprid, Hel. 
20 ; Varro, L. L. viii. 32. Hence scandere, ascendere, descendere, are 
always said of it. See Broukh, on TibuU. i. 2, 19 ; Ov. Fast. ii. 349 ; 
Serv. ad Virg. ^n. iv. 685, lecti antiquormm alti er ant et gradihus 
ascendehantur. Lucan. ii. 356, gradihusque acclivis eburnis Stat torus. 
[Varro, L. L. v. 168.] These gradus seem to be the /w/cra (i. e. 
pedum) so often mentioned. [Or rather /«/era denote the stout 
props, adorned with sphinxes, griffins, and other beasts, serving as 
feet, in contradistinction to the round and more elegant ^^e^e^. 



Scene IT.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 291 

Hygin. Fah. 274 ; Isid. xix. 26. Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 2, speaks of both, 
tricliniorum, pedibus fulcrisqiie.'] See Propert. ii. 10, 21 : 

Nee mihi tunc fulcro sternatur lectus ebiirno. 
iv. 7, 3 ; Juv. vi. 22 ; xi. 95 : 

Qualis in Oceani fluctu testudo nataret, 
Clarum Trojugenis factura et nobile fulcrum. 

Comp. Virg. JEn. vi. 603 ; Suet. Claud. 32. 

The lectus cubicularis had (especially when it was intended for 
two persons), an elevated ledge on one side of it, pluteus, which 
word is used to denote the whole side, while the side by which they 
got into the bed was called sjjonda. Isidor. xx. 11. The same is 
meant by the j^rior interiorque torus, Ovid. Amor. iii. 14, 32. See 
Salmas. ad Mart. iii. 91, 9 ,• Suet. Ccbs. 49 ; Scip. Afr. in Gellius, vii. 
12. As regards sofas for studying, Böttiger, Sah. i. p. 35, has re- 
marked, writing-desks, with stools to sit on and study, were un- 
known to the ancients ; but they used to meditate, read, or write, 
reclining on the lectus, or lectulus, or lectulus lucubratorius, or 
lectica lue. Suet. Aug. 78 : OVidi. Trist, i. 11, 37 ; Seneca, Epist. 72. 
The habitus studentis, as Pliny calls it, was such that a person, 
almost as in the triclinium, rested on the left arm, drawing up at 
the same time the right leg, in order to lay the book on it, or to 
write, but they may also have had contrivances for the convenience 
of writing, on the edge of the lectulus. Persius, i. 106 : 

Nee pluteum caedit, nee demorsos sapit ungues. 
Juven. ii. 7. [Sidon. Ap. ii. 9, grammaticales plutei. Scimpodium, 
and (jrahatus, two names borrowed from the Greeks, most likely 
denoted the same thing in Greece, a low small coucli. See Becker's 
Charicles, Eng. Trans, p. 117, note. Scimpodium comes from aKiinrw. 
But in Rome grabati ware applied to the lecti of the poor, which 
were lower than those of the rich ; whilst the low new-fashioned 
couch of the higher classes was called scimpodium. The poverty- 
stricken appearance of the grabati is clear from Cic. de Div., non 
modo lectos, verum etiam grabatos. Sen. Ep. 18, mentions them 
along with modicas cosnas, pauperum cellas, Ep. 20. They were 
used for travellers in inns, Petron. 52. The scimpodm, on the con- 
trary, are only mentioned of the rich, and are generally used in cases 
of sickness, e. g. Gell. xix. 10. Dio Cass. Ixxvi. 13, relates that Sept. 
Severus, when ill, was carried in a scimpodium. Augustus and Ti- 
berius had done the same. Later, the difference was done away 
with, and the costly scimpodia were likewise called grabatus. Scsev. 
Dig. xxxiii. 7, 20, grabatus argento in aurato tectus. The Punicani 
lecti, as they were called, were also very low. Isid. xx. 11.] 

u 2 



292 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 



THE CHAIRS. 

Chairs were not so much used by tlie Romans as by us, and 
only required for visitors [Gell. ii. 2 ; Sen. de Clem. i. 9], although 
they also had exedrce. A distinction is made between sella and 
cathedra, and the latter is assigned particularly to the women. But 
it cannot be said that the sella was formed like our chairs, only with 
the back a little more inclined ; or that the cathedra meant an arm- 
chair ; for the sell(B gestatorice were arm-chairs, and on the other 
hand, we often meet with women sitting on the simple chairs. Sella 
denotes every kind of chair from the sella quotidiani qucestus of the 
artisan (Cic. in Cat. iv. 8 ; Mus. Borh. iv. 6, 50), to the sella cundis. 
The cathedra is also included herein; and the reason why this 
word, so common in the poets, refers oftenest to women, is that 
they generally sat, and did not recline, [At least sella and sedile 
(with the diminutives sedicidum and sedecula, Cic. ad Att. iv. 10), 
were the most general terms for every kind of chair, although sedile 
originally denotes merely the seat itself or the cushion thereon. 
Seliquastrum was an antique expression. Fest. p. 340 ; Varro, L. L. 
Y. 128. The general meaning of sella is clear from its being used 
in the tabernse of the artisans and tonsores, Dig, ix. 2, 11 ; and at 
the house-doors of the courtesans (Plaut. Poen. i. 2, 56 ; Sen. de 
Benef. i. 9) ; in the baths (see Excursus on the Baths) ; in the lec- 
ture-rooms (Cic. ad Fam. ix. 18), and on the tribunal of the magis- 
trate (like the sella curulis and the sella imp eratoria, Spart, Sev. 1 ; 
Cic. PM. ii. 34; Suet. Cces. 76; Cic. Verr. ii. 38; v. 39; Suet. Clawl 
23 ; Plin. Ep. ii. 11, selUs considiim) ; also in the camp for the gene- 
ral, Suet. Galb. 18, castrensem sellam ; not to mention that sella 
also means a sedan, as well as another unsesthetic article of house- 
hold furniture, called sella familiarica. Cod. Th. xv. 13, de usu sel- 
larum in their most general sense. Sedile, although rarely met with , 
has a very general meaning. Suet. Oct., sedile reffium ; Spart. Hadr. 
23 ; Comp. Cels. viii. 10. It is said of a marble bench in Pliny, 
Ep. V. 6, 40 ; and often in the poets. 

The solium was the term for a lofty throne-like seat of honour. 
Such a one was occupied by the father of the family, when he gave 
advice to his clients, as their patronus. Cic. de Leg. i. 3, -^nore 
patrio sedens in solio considentihus responderem. de Or. ii. 55. Such 
solia were consecrated to the gods in their temples. So Soliiwi 
Jovis. Suet. Cal. 57 ; Oct. 70 ; Or. de liar. Resp. 27. The kingly 
throne is often so called. Serv. ad Virg. ALn. i. 510 ; vii. 169. 
In this sense it often occurs in Virgil and Ovid. Cic. de fin. ii. 21 : 
ornatu regali, in solio sedens. See Isid. xx. 11^ and Festus. The 



Scene II.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 293 

splendid gilded thrones of Mars and Venus, Bacchus and Ceres, 
which occur in the Pompeian frescoes, were most likely Roman 
solia, or at least, like them. Mus. Borb. "viii. 20 ; vi. 53, 34. The 
hacks and sides are perpendicular, as well as the legs, which are of 
the most elegant shape, with small foot-boards attached. They 
have also cushions of various hues, and hangings on each side of 
the back. Chimentell. de Honore Bisell. c. 18. 

The cathedra, on the other hand, was designed more for comfort 
than show ; its back and sides are therefore not upright, like in the 
solium, but more easy and adapted to the form of the person, with 
sloping back, and broader above, for the head to rest on in either 
direction. Ant. cTHerc. iv. 97 ; Mus. Borb. iv. t. 18 ; but it is always 
without arms. See Juv. vi. 90 : 

. . . famam contemserat olim, 
Cujus apud moUes minima est jactura cathedras. 
Martial^ iii. 63, says of the effeminate Cotilus, 

Inter femineas tota qui luce cathedras 
Desidet. 
xii. 38, femineis cathedris ; Juv. ix. 52, strata positus longaque cathe- 
dra ; which shows that it had soft cushions and was long. It was 
covered with a stragidum, as we see from Martial, xii. 18 : 
Ignota est toga, sed datiu* petenti 
Eupta proxima vestis e cathedra. 

From the easiness of the cathedra it is often mentioned in con- 
nexion with the fair sex. Mart. ix. 99 ; Phsedr. iii. 8, 4 ; Hor. Sat. 
i. 10, 90. Ladies used to rest on it and write, Prop. iv. 5, 37. 
But the use of these. chairs was not confined to them, as they 
were offered to men also, when paying visits. Thus, in Sen. de 
Clem. i. 9, Augustus has a cath9dra set for Cinna. Plin. Ep. ii. 17 ; 
viii. 21. The teacher's chair was also called cathedra, not however 
on account of its being easy. Juv. vii. 203 ; Mart. i. 77 ; Sidon, Ep. 
vii. 9. Pliny (xvi. 37, 68) mentions a particular sort of cathedra 
interwoven with osiers. Comp. Lipsii Elect, i. 19; Dittrich, de 
Cath. feminarum Rom. 

Besides the solium (or chair of state with back and arms), and 
the cathedra (or easy chair with stuffed back, gently sloping, but 
without arms), there were none others, as far as we know, bearing 
any particular designation ; but they all went by the general name 
of sella. They were very various, and often remarkably like our 
modern chairs, as is seen by the paintings at Pompeii. The feet 
were most elegantly turned, and either straight or gracefully 
curved ; sometimes placed cross-wise, as in Mm. Borh. vii. t. 3. 
The backs displayed an even greater variety. Sometimes there 



294 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

were none ; as in the modern stooL Mtis. Borh. vii. t. 53 ) ix. 18. 
(Even those of the emperors are often without them. Mus. Borh 
iv. t. 37.) Sometimes they are very low, Miis. Borh. viii. 5 ; others 
again are very tall, and incline forwards or backwards. But gene- 
rally the hack is semicircular, (hence called arcus, Tac. Ann. xv. 
57,) and broad, Mus. Borh. xiii. 21, 36; rarely trellised, as in 3Ius. 
Borh. xii. 13. On the seats are cushions, apparently moveable, and 
therefore fastened with broad or narrow bands. The frames of 
chairs were of wood, (often veneered with ivory or other costly 
materials), or of metal, like the lecti. See Chimentell. Marmor. 
Pisantim de Hon. Bisell. 

Benches (scamna and suhsellia, Varro, L. L. v. 168 ; Isid. xx. 
11) were not used in the houses of the wealthy Romans, except in 
the baths, or for the purpose of facilitating the ascent into the 
lectus. Isidorus and Varro. The subsellia cathedraria were a more 
convenient kind, with backs, (Pauli. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 5), and tapetce 
to cover the cushion ; called tegumenta suhsellwrum in Ulp. Dig. 
xxxiv. 2, 25. They were to be found in the public baths. Well- 
preserved specimens were discovered in Pompeii. See Excurs. I. 
Sc. 7. It will be needless to say how common benches were in 
public life, as in courts of justice and theatres. ScaheUa were small 
foot-stools, (Isid. ih.), also called hjpodia. Pauli, iii. 6, 65.] 

THE TABLES. 

In no article of furniture was greater expense incurred than in 
the tables ; indeed the extravagance in this particular would be 
scarcely credible, did not the most trustworthy writers give us ex- 
press information about it. The monopodia, especially, cost im- 
mense sums of money ; also called orhes and ahaci. These mono- 
podia, which, according to Livy, xxxix. 6, and Pliny, H. N. xxxiv. 
3, 8, came with other articles of luxury from Asia, were called 
orbes, not from being round, but because they were massive plates of 
wood, cut off the stem in its whole diameter. For this purpose, the 
wood of the e2"^n/.s was preferred above all others [mensa citrea, Cic. 
Verr. iv. 17 ; Petron. 119] ; by which we must not miderstand the 
citron-tree, but the thuja cgjvessoidcs, 9via, Bvov, as is evident from 
Pliny, xiii, 16, who expressly distinguishes it from the regular citrus. 
This tree was found especially in Mauretania, (lience, secti Atlantide 
silva orhes, Luc. x. 144 ; Mart. xiv. 89), and was of such magnitude, 
as the citron-tree never attained to. Pliny (c. xv.) mentions plates 
nearly four feet in diameter, which were cut off the trunk, of the 
thickness nearly of half a foot. Unlike other tables, they were not 



Scene IL] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 295 

provided witli several feet, "but rested on an ivory column, and were 
tlience termed monopodia. Liv. xxxix. 6 5 [Juv. xi. 122 : 

. . . latos nisi sustinet orbes 
Grrande ebur et magno sublimis pardus hiatu.] 

Mart. ii. 43, 9. The price of sucli tables was enormous. [Sen. de 
Ben. vii. 9, mensas et csstimatiim lignum senatoris censu. Juv. i. 137 ; 
Tertull. de Pall. 5.] Pliny relates that Cicero himself had paid for 
one, that was then still extant, 1,000,000 sesterces, and he mentions 
even more extraordinary cases. The most costly specimens were 
those cut off near the root, not only because the tree was broadest 
there, but on account of the wood being dappled and speckled. 
Pliny mentions tigrin(S, pantherince, undnthn crispcB, pavonum caudce 
ocidos imitantes, apicdce mens^e. These tables however were too deal* 
and not large enough to use at meals, although they did sometimes 
serve for this purpose. Martial, ix. 60, 9. Hence larger ones of 
common wood were made, and veneered with the wood of the 
citrus, and according to Pliny, even Tiberius used only such a one. 
xvi. 42, 84. 

The costly citrecs, in order to protect them from injury, were 
covered with cloths of thick coarse linen, yuasape. Mart. xiv. 138 : 
Nobilins villosa tegant tibi lintea citrum ; 
Orbibus in nostris circulus esse potest. 
They stood also thus in the shops of the dealers, Mart. ix. 60, 7. 
This gausape was frequently purple-covered, Heindorf, ad Hot: 
Sat. ii. 8, 11; it served also for dusters, [Horace, ib.; Lucil, in 
Priscian. ix. p. 870.] 

The small tables used at meals, or to display costly plate upon, 
exponere argentum, were called abaci. This word, in Greelf, denotes 
a plate or table, but generally one with a raised rim round it. [Co- 
roncB mensarum, Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19; Faber, Semestr. iii. 25.] 
Hence the counting-table and dice-board were called abacus, as like- 
wise the smooth square panels between the stucco ornaments, tecto- 
rium, on the wall?, Vitr. vii. 3, 10. Their use as side-boards is quite 
clear, from Cic. Verr. iv. 16 ; Plin. xxxvii. 2, 6 ; comp. Petron. 73 ; 
[Sidon. Apoll, xvii. 7.] The plates of such tables were generally 
of marble, or imitations of it, sometimes of silver (Petr. 70), gold 
or other costly material, and generally square. To the abaci be- 
long also the menses Delphicce ex viarmore. Cic. Vcrr. iv. 59, and 
Mart. xii. 67 : 

Auriun at que argentum non simplex Delphica portat. 
[Schol. ad Juv. iii. 204 ; Schol. Acr. ad Hor. Sat. i. 6, 116 ; Poll. x. 
81.] So tlie h\(piyiQ Tpn-Ca in Lucian, Zcxiph., though it is doubt- 
ful whether the name refers to the material or the form. 



296 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

Tbe trapezophorce, which are mentioned occasionally^ and by 
Cicero, ad Att. vii. 23, (comp. Paul. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 3 ; Jung, ad 
Foil. X. 69), do not appear to have been so much tables, as table- 
frames, chiefly of marble, upon which an abacus was placed accord- 
ing to taste. Some persons profess, and with some appearance of 
truth, to recognize them in the numerous bases, which are to be 
met with, and four of which are given in the Mus. JBorb. iii. tab. 
59, vii. tab. 28. On all of them are two griffins, turned from each 
other, and the intervening space is decked with flowers, tendrils, 
dolphins, and similar objects in relief. They are of Lunesian mar- 
ble ; the slabs which were upon them were probably of higher 
value [of costly wood or gilded, Paul. Dig. xxxiii. 10. Mart. iii. 31 : 

Sustentatque tuas aurea niensa dapes. 
But they had also small costly tables to eat at : thus Seneca had 

five hundred rpiTroSag Kecpivov ^vXov aXecpav-oyrodaQ. Of COUrse 
those of more moderate means had less pretending tables, which 
generally rested on three or four feet, Hor. Sat. i. 3, 13 (mcnsa 
tripes), and had a square plate; this being originally the regular, 
and indeed the only form used. Varro, L. L. v. 118. The material 
was beech-wood, Mart. ii. 43, 9, or maple, acer, a wood also highly 
prized by the Greeks {(Tcpkvcajxvoi:). See Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 10 : 

. . . puer alte cinctiis acernam 
Gansape purpureo mensam pertersit. 

Mart. xiv. 90. Pliny, H. N. xvi. 26, calls it citro sectmdus. There 
were also tables of marble, Hor. Sat. i. 6, 116, lapis albus. In the 
tabernse, the tables were often of brick-work, so the menses lani- 
arice, Suet. Claud. 15. See Ciaccon. de Tridin. 

THE MIERORS. 

Besides those fixed in the walls (see above), there were also 
portable looking-glasses of various sizes and manifold form, used at 
the toilet of the ladies. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19. They were mostly 
oval or round, and were held before the mistress by the female 
slaves {tenere, porrigei^e), Prop. iv. 7, 76 j Ovid. Am. ii. 215 , Juv. 
ii. 99.] 

The mirrors were generally of metal ; in the earlier periods a 
composition of tin and copper was used, but as luxury increased, 
those made of silver became more common, Plin. xxxiii. 9. The 
silver however, which was at first used pure, was often adulterated 
with a quantity of some other metal. The excellence of the mirror 
did not depend only upon the purity of the metal, but also on the 



Scene IL] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 297 

strengtli of the plate^ wliich caused the image to be reflected more 
strongly. Viti*. vii. 3, 9. [The back part was also of metal, which 
was usually embossed. Many have been preserved; most of which 
are of Greek or Etruscan workmanship. Mus. Borh. ix. 14.] 

TRIPODS 

may also be reckoned among the household utensils, so far as they 
served to ornament the palaces of the great : with their use in the 
temples we have nothing to do. Respecting the tripods in the 
kitchen, see the kitchen utensils.] 

Among the paintings from Pompeii in the Mus. Borh. there are 
two, which represent costly tripods. Each is adorned with seven 
statues, the one with the sons, the other with the daughters of 
Niobe. In each, three figures are standing or kneeling at the feet 
of the tripod, while the remaining four are in a kneeling posture 
on the rim which unites the feet. Tom. vi. t. 13, 14. [Comp. 
Mus. Borh. ix. 33.] 

CUPBOARDS AND CHESTS. 

CtrPBOAEDS (armaria, Isid. xv. 5), and chests {capsce, arcce, 
Varro, L. L. v. 128) served to guard money and other valuables, 
as well as clothes, books, eatables, &c. Pauli. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 3. 
On those for the books see Excurs. I. Sc. 3. Cicero, j». Cod. 21, 
mentions cupboards for valuables. Petron. 29 ; Plaut. Eind. ii. 
3, 3. See Cato, R. R. 11, armarium pro7nptuarium. Plaut. Cap. 
iv. 4, 10. On the cupboards for the imagines see above. They 
were mostly made of beech-wood. Plin. H. K. xvi. 84. 

The chests also served for all manner of uses, (area vestiaria, 
Cato, R. R. 11 ; comp. Suet. Cal. 59) ; but mostly for keeping 
money in, and they stood in the atrium. These were either entirely 
of metal {a-Ko (n^i)pov, App. iv. 44), or of wood, ornamented and 
secured with metal ; hence f errata area in Juv. xi. 20 ; Ulp. Dicj. 
xxxii. 1, 52. We may form a conjecture of their size from the fact 
that the proscribed Junius or Vinius lay hidden for several days in 
the money-chest of his freedman, and thus escaped death ; App. 
lb. ; Dio Cass, xlvii. 7 \ Suet. Oct. 27. Several such have been 
found at Pompeii, or, at all events, their ornaments, erustcB, v/hich 
were embossed. See 3fus. Borh. v. p. 7, an account of the two 
chests, found in the house of tlie Dioscuri. 

So common were these money-chests, that the term for pajang 
money was ex area solvere. Donat. ad Ter. Ad. ii. 4, 13, and 
Phorm. V. 8, 29. They were in charge of the atrieiisls, and perhaps 



298 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus TIL 

in great houses, in that of special arcarii ; Scsev. Dig. xL 5, 41 ; 
called by Plautus, Anl. iii. 5, 45, arcularii. Orell. 2890, The arcse 
and armaria were sometimes sealed, as has been already mentioned. 
Smaller chests (cistellcc, loculi) and baskets (canistra, Varro, 
L. L. V. 120) are often mentioned. Isid. xx. 9. The baskets were 
round or square, of divers materials, and often very costly. Cic. ad 
Att. vi. 1 ; splendidissimis canistris. Mtis. Borh. viii. 18. 

COOKING UTENSILS {coquinatorium instrumentum, Ulp. Big. 
xxxiv. 2, 19.) 

1. Regular cooking vessels were called cocula, Paul. Diac. p. 
39 ; Isid. xx. 8 : vasa ad coquendum. 

a. Of peculiar shape. As the miliarucvi (so called from its re- 
semblance to mill-stones ; Pallad. v. 8 ; altum et ongustmn, Colum. 
ix. 4) a tall narrow metal vessel, for boiling water quickly. Ath. 
iii. p. 98 ; Sen. Nat. Qucsst. iii. 24. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19, mentions 
silver ones. Ajithepsa was a Greek cooking machine with a recep- 
tacle below, probably for charcoal, and often cost large sums. Cic. 
p. Rose. Am. 46 ; Lamprid. Ilel. 18. 

h. Kettle-shaped was the ahemim ; (dimin. ahemdmn, so called 
from the material ;) it was broad and rotund. PauL Dig. xxxiii. 7, 
18 ; Serv. ad Virg. yEn. vi. 218. It was hung over the fire, and 
used for boiling water, also for cooking victuals ; Titinn. in Nonius, 
i. 68; Petron. 74; Jiiv. xi. 81; and by dyers, Ov. Fast. iii. 822. 
Avellino thinks ahenum was a small stew-pan, with a long handle, 
which IS improbable. The lehes, though properly a basin, when it 
was used for cooking, must have been kettle-shaped, but not very 
deep ; Isid, xx. 8 ; Poll. x. 85. The cortina, a semicircular kettle 
(hence cortina theatri, Forcellinus) was in general use among the 
dyers. Plin. H. N. xxxv. 6, 25 ; Cato, R. R. 06 ; Plin, xv. 6, 6 j 
Plaut. Roen. v. 5, 11. 

c. Regular seething-pots. Cacahus (of metal, and of earthen- 
ware, Col, xii. 41, 46, sometimes of silver, Ulp, ih. ; Lamprid. Hdiog. 
19) was a pot for cooking food, Varro, vas uhi coquchant cihum. 
Pauli. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 18. It was also called olla, formerly aida, 
Isid. XX. 8. Nonius, xv. 1, calls it capacissimum vas. See Forcel- 
linus concerning its other uses. Cucuma, a larger pot, Petron. 135 ; 
Macr. Dig. xlviii. 8. Lasanum, in Llor. Sat. i. 6, 109, is also a 
cooking vessel, which the sordidus prcetor carries with him, that 
he may not have to stop at an inn. A bronze pot, with cover and 
handsome handle, is copied in Mus. Borb. ix. 56 ; see xii. 58. 

d. Those shaped like our pans. Sartago (Isid. ih., a strepitv- 



Scene IT.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 299 

soni vocatttj quando in ea ardet oleu7ii), was an open pan of silver, 
Plin. H. N. xvi. 11, 22 ; Ulp. ih. The patina (properly a dish), 
also used for cooking, was flat. Plaut. Pseud, iii. 2, 51 : 

Ubi omnes patinse fervent, omnes aperio. 
Apic. iii. 2 ; iv. 2. Covers (testum and testu) were commonly used. 
Ov. Fast. vi. 509 : 

Stant calices, minor inde fabas, olus alter habebant, 
Et fumant testu pressus uterque suo. 
Cato, R. JR. 74, 75, 84 ; Plin. xxxiii. 7, 26 ; see Äfus. Borh. iii. 63 ; 
V. 44; xii. 59. 

2. Other utensils were tripods, tripedes, as stands for the pots ; 
(Ussing wrongly supposes that lasana were also used for this pur- 
pose) ; spits {veru, Varro, L. L. v. 127) ; gridirons (craticida, Mart. 
xiv. 221) ; strainers (colmn, Mus. Borh. ; some were made of osiers, 
Colum. xii. 19) ; funnels (infundihula and inßdihida, Cat, R. R. 10, 

II, 13; Col. iii. 18, angusto ore; also of glass, Mtis. Borh. v. 10) ; 
sieves (crihrum'., especially for flour, Pers. iii. 112, crihro decussa 
farina ; Plin. H. N. xviii. 11, 28 ; see Forcellinus) ; spoons and 
ladles (the larger were called tru(B, Pauli. Diac. v. antroare, quo 
permovent coquentes exta; Titinn. in Nonius, xix. 18; the smaller 
were called tndlce, Paul. Diac. p. 31. Cato, R. R. 13, mentions 
tridlas aheneas and ligneas. Varro, L. L. v. 118, seems to use trua 
in a wider sense. On the use of trulla, as a wine -vessel, see Excurs. 

III. Sc. 9.) Mortars of stone and metal {pila, for poimding in with 
the heavy pestle, pilum mortarium, for lighter work, Isid. iv. 11 ; 
Non. XV. 3 ; often in the Scriptores rei rusticce, and in Pliny. See 
Forcell.) ; coal-scoops (Hor. Sat. i. 5, 36, prunceque hatillum; see 
Heindoi-f, and Casaubon ad Script. Hist. Aug. p. 224. In Mus. 
Borh. X. 104, is a copy of an elegant coal-scoop, resting on five 
small feet ; and also two small andirons of bronze, prettily orna- 
mented. Qn prima and carho, see Isid. xix. 6). Several beautiful 
steel-yards of bronze have been found. See Mus. Borh. i. 56 ; viii. 
16. The moveable weight attached to them is generally ornamented 
with a small bust of some deity. The scale-plate hung by chains. 

3. Water-vessels. The most indispensable was the urna (hg- 
dria), like our bucket, adapted both for fetching water (Varro, L. L. 
V. 126), and also for keeping it in. For the former purpose it was 
provided with two moveable handles, which fell when the vessel was 
set down. When used for keeping water in, they had no handles ; 
others again, for carrying water, besides the two large handles had 
two smaller ones fixed on below. Mus. Borh. vii. 31 ; comp. vi. 31, 
viii. 15, iii. 14. They were made of earthenware, wood, and metal. 
One of bronze with a very elegant handle is given in 3Ius. Borh. xi. 



300 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus HL 

44; and Cicero, T^err. ii. 19, mentions hydrias argenteas. Some- 
times the name of the owner was inscribed on them. Plaut. Rud. 
ii. 5, 21. 

They were carried on the head. Prop. iv. 4^ 16 : 
Urgebat medium fietilis urna caput, 
or on the shoulder, iv. 11, 27 : 

Infelix humeros urgeat urna meos. 
Something was usually placed on the head underneath the vessel. 
Paul. Diac. p. Q, and p. 45 : Ccesticillus appellatur circulus, quern 
siiperponit capiti, qui aliquid laturus est i?i capite. They poured the 
water straight out of the bucket into the kettle. Plaut. Pseud, i. 2, 
24. Hence urna is used of the vessels of the Danaides, though these 
ought properly to be called urnidce. Varro in Nonius, xv. 8. The 
water-buckets were placed in the kitchen on the urnarium, as it was 
called, a kind of square table for the purpose. "Varro, L. L. v. 126 ; 
and in Non. xv. 10. Other vessels for drawing and ladling water 
were urceus (somewhat less than an urna), and urceolus. Paul. Dig. 
quibus aqua in ahenum infunditur. Cato, R. R. 10, 13 ; Mart. xiv. 
106, urceus ßctilis : 

Hie tibi douatur panda ruber urceus ansa. 
Cato, 13 : urceus ahenus. These served also for mixing drinks. 
Mart. xiv. 105. Another was called nanus. Paul. Diac. p. 176 : 
Nanum Greed vas aquarium dieunt humile et concavum, quod vulgo 
vocant situlum harhatum. So Varro, L. L. v. 119. 

Situlus or situla may also be compared to our bucket. Plaut. 
Amph. ii. 2, 39 ; Epigram in Anth. Lat. i. p. 493 ; Paul. Dig. xviii. 
1, 40; Cato, R. R. 11. Vitruv. x. 9: Ferrea catena hahens sitidos 
pendentes cereos. Non. xv. 36. Lastly, matella and mateUio were 
used in the kitchen for drawing water, as well as for mixing wine at 
table. Plautus in Non. xv. 2 ; Varro, L. L. v. 119 ; Cato, R. R. 10. 
Oifutis Varro says («6.) : Vas aquarium, quod in triclinio allatam 
aquam infundehant. 

VESSELS FOR HOLDING LIQUIDS. 

These went by the general name vasa (Paul. rec. sefiit. iii. 6, 86), 
which word is also used in a wider sense. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19 ; 
Plaut. Aid. i. 2, 17. They varied so much in form, size, use, ma- 
terial and workmanship, that it would be useless to attempt to give 
specific names to the many that have been preserved ; a few general 
observations must therefore suffice. Varro, Festus, Macrobius, {8at. 
V. 21), Nonius Marcellus, xiv., Isidorus, xx. 4, Poll. x. iKtvtf rä 
Kar' oltciav xp'/o-'i««); Athen, xi. are our authorities on the subject. 



Scene II.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 301 

Some of the cliief modern works are, Panofka, Reclierches sur les 
veritahles noms des vases grecs ; Letronne, Observat. philol. et archeol. 
sur les no7ns des vases grecs ; and Ussing, de nommihKS vasonon Grcec. 
Most of tliese refer to Greek vessels, but in fact tlie majority of 
the Ho man ones, except the commoner sorts, were derived from 
Greece. The Greek names of several of these, and the Greek 
subjects pourtrayed on them, long continued to show their first 
origin, e. g. the scypM Homerici of Nero, Suet. IS^er. 47. 

The vasa were made (1) of earthenware, jf?c^?7m, Isid. xx. 4 : Plin. 
H. N. XXXV. 46, either of very simple construction (cumano rubi- 
cimda ptdvere testa, Mart. xiv. 114 ; xi. 27, 5 ; Hor. Sat. i. 6. 118), or 
valuable from their size and skilful workmanship {propter tenuita- 
tern, Pliny). See Ruperti on Juvenal, iv. 131 ; Pliny, ib. : eo perve- 
nit luxuria, id etiaynficiilia pluris consterd quam murrhina. The art 
of the potter and modeller bloomed early in Italy, especially in 
Etruria (Mart. xiv. 98) and lower Italy (Mart. xiv. 102, 114) ; but 
even in Numa's time there was a guild of potters at Rome. Pliny, 
ib. All sorts of utensils and vessels were worked either after Greek 
patterns or from original designs. The numerous terra cottas still 
existing are conspicuous alike for their durability, colouring and 
finish, as well as for the tasteful elegance of their shapes ; the inge- 
nuity displayed in ornamenting the handles and rims is truly won- 
derful. Ovens for baking them have often been discovered, and at 
Oria in Campania, a potter's workshop entire, with a number of 
vessels. See Hausmann, de confectione vasortim antiq. ßctilium. 
On the terra cotta lamps, see the following Excui'sus, on the 
Manner of Lighting. 

(2) The metal vasa were very numerous.] The silver and golden 
utensils were either pura (sine ullo opere artißcis. Plin. Ep. iii. 1 ; 
Juv. ix. 141 ; Mart. iv. .38 ; also levia, Juv. xiv. 62) ; or ccelata, aspera, 
toreumata. The latter were doubtless not always from the hand of 
the artist whose name they bore ; but it was the name more than the 
workmanship that enhanced their value. [The Greek ropevriKi) cor- 
responds exactly with the Roman calatura ; and is only used of 
work in relief in metal ; as Quinctilian expressly states, ii. 21 ; Plin. 
H. N. xxxiii. Isid. xx. 4 : Ccelata vasa signis cmineiitibus intus ex- 
trave expressis a calo, quod est genus ferramenti, quod vulgo cilionem 
vacant. Anciently, such vessels were termed anccesa. Paul. Diac. 
p. 20 : quod circmnccedendo ßimt. See Garatoni on Cic. Verr. iv. 
23. This ornament was either constructed in a piece with the 
vessel itself (being either hammered out, or cast and then chased), 
like the dishes and cups ornamented with wreaths (lances pampi- 
natcSj patince hederatcs, discus corgmbiatus, Treb. Poll. Claud. 17) ,• 



302 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

or the embossing was done on a separate piece of metal, which 
was afterwards fixed on to the vessel. Lead was used for soldering 
them together. Alp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19 ; Paul.D^^. yL 1, 23. Such 
plates in relief were named sigilla, Cic. Verr. iv. 22 ; and these were 
further called emhlemata or crustce. Verr. iv. 2.3. The first were 
massive pieces, stuck firmly into the vessel. (Hence the term em- 
hlema vermiculatum applied to designs in mosaic.) So Ulpian, Dig. 
xxxiv. 2, 19 : emhlemata aurea (in argento), and § 6 ; so Paul. ih. 
32, and Itec. sent. iii. 6, 89 : Vasis argenteis emhlemata ex auroßxa. 
Sen. Dp. 5. Pliny, H. N. xxxiii. 55, mentions, as ^pMalce emhlema, 
Ulysses and Diomed stealing the Palladium. Comp. Treb. Poll. Tit. 
in XXX. Tyr. 32. Crusted, on the other hand (according to its true 
meaning, of thin covering generally, for instance, the plates of 
marble covering the walls, fishes' scales, &c.), denote thin plates or 
strips, with or without embossed work, which were not so much 
fixed in, as on and around the vessels. Thus a chaplet of embossed 
work placed round a vessel would be caUed only crnsta, not emhletna. 
The crusta was thin like veneering, the emblema compact and mas- 
sive. Paul. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 32 : cymhia argentea criistis aureis Uli- 
gata, whereas infixa is used of the emhlemata. Cic. Verr. ii. 24 : 
ita scite in aureis pocidis illigahat (i. e. crustas), ita apte in scgphis 
aureis includehat (i. e. emhlemata). See Salmas. ad Solin. p. 736. 
Ernesti Claris, v. crusta. Tiberius forbade the expression emblema, 
as being bad Latin, Suet. Tih. 71 ; Dio Cass. Ivii. 51, but of course 
it continued to be used. Vasa aurea are also mentioned (Ulp. Dig. 
xxxiv. 2, 27), but the argentea were naturally more common. One 
hundred such have been discovered at Pompeii, most of them mag- 
nificently embossed. See Mus. Borh. x. 14 ; xi. 45 ; xiii. 49. A 
rich discovery of them was made in Normandy, from the temple of 
Mercury at Canetum.] 

The chrysendeta, so often mentioned by Martial, are incorrectly 
explained to be drinking- vessels ; on the contrary, they were fiat 
vessels for serving up the food : at least this is the only use to 
which they are applied by Martial, ii. 43, 11 ; and xiv. 97; comp, 
vi. 94. The name itself, and the designation^am, gave rise to the 
supposition that they were silver vessels with a golden rim, perhaps 
also with inlaid gold-work. 

The vasa of Corinthian brass were highly prized. See above. 
[Bronze vessels were naturally most frequent, numbers are to be 
seen in the Musetim Borhonicum ; which, notwithstanding the cheap- 
ness of the material, are always gracefully formed, the handles par- 
ticularly so, with very fine embossing.] 

(3) Vessels adorned with gems. We must not believe thta in 



Scene II.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 303 

every case where vessels of amethyst, etc. are mentioned, real pre- 
cious stones are meant, though there Vv^ere such also. We have only 
to call to mind the Mantuan vase, as it is called. Cic. Verr. iv. 27. 
[Prop. iii. 3, 26: Kec hihit e gemma divite nostra suis. Virg. Georg, ii. 
506 ', Mart. xiv. 110. See a cup of onyx, 3Ius. Borh. xii. 47. Little 
vessels of onyx were often used for anointing, and hence onyx came 
to denote an ointment vessel. Hor. Od. iv. 12, 17: Nardi parvus 
omjx. Prop. iii. 8, 22 ; ii. 10, 13 ; Mart. vii. 94 ; xi. 50.] 

Vessels ornamented with precious stones were much more fre- 
quent, gemmis distuicta, or composed of a quantity of cameos set in 
gold, Appian, Mithr. 115, which are often mentioned by the later 
poets. [Plin. xxxiii, 2 : turha gemmarum 'potamus et smaragdis 
teximus calices. xxxvii. 6; Mart, xiv. 109: Juv. x. 26^ v. 43; Auson. 
epigr. 8 ; Ulp. Dig., xxxiv. 2, 19. 

(4) Vessels of amber were only of small dimensions. Mart. iv. 
32 : De ape electro inclusa. Metal vessels were also ornamented 
with amber. Paul. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 32 ; Mart, viii. 51 : 

Vera minus flavo radiant electra metallo. 
Juv. V. 37 ; xiv. 307. Ivory seems to have been rarely used for 
vessels, or their ornaments. Mart. xiv. 78 ; Orell. 3838 : pyxldem 
eboream.l 

(5) Vessels of glass. The ingeniously- wrought objects in glass 
for which Alexandria particularly was famed, appear to throw all 
the skill of the English and Bohemian glass-polishers [yitriarii, 
OreU. 4229] completely into the shade. [Mart, xii. 74 : Cum tibi 
Niliacus j^ortet crystalla cataphis. Cic. p. Hab. 14 ; Treb. Poll. 
Claud. 17 : calices Aigyptios. Vop. Tac. ii.] They knew as well as 
we how to impart to the glass any colour they pleased, and make 
skilful imitations of precious stones. Plin. xxxvi. 26, 67; comp, 
xxxvii. 7, 26, 6, 22 ; [Isid. xvi. 15 ; Strab. xvi. p. 7o8] ; and this kind 
of coloured glass is no doubt often meant under the word gemm<B ; 
e.g. the amethystini trientes. Mart. x. 49. To them belong also 
the variously-shaded alassontes, [from Egypt,] (Vopisc. Saturn. 8,) 
perhaps opal-glass, or something similar. The most valued however 
were the crystallina, of quite pure, white, and transparent glass. 
Plin. [Isid. xvi. 15.] We must always therefore understand it of 
crystal glass, when crystallina or crystalla (Mart. ix. 23, [xiv. Ill ;] 
xii. 74) are mentioned ; and when we read (ix. 60, 13) of turbata 
brevi crystallina vitro, this must be supposed to be an impure, 
perhaps greenish, piece, or place, as i. 54, 6, Aretince violant ci'ystal- 
lina testoi. They had also the secret of making glass of differently- 
coloured layers joined together, which they then cut into cameos 
like the onyx. Plin. xxxvi. 26, 66. The renowned Barberini or 



304 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

Portland Vase, [from tlie tomb of Severus Alexander,] wHch was 
long considered a genuine sardonyx, is of this description. Hence 
tlie frequent mention of sardonyches veri, Mart. iv. 61, 6 ; ix. 60, 19. 

[Still finer than the Portland vase is the embossed glass vase, 
with blue and white bas-reliefs, discovered in 1837, in a tomb at 
Pompeii. See Mus. Borh. xi. 28, 29.] 

The opal bowl, described in Scene IL, was discovered about the 
year 1725, in Navarre, and at the time Fea translated Winkelmann's 
Hist, of the Arts, was to be found in the collection of D. Carlo de' 
Marchesi Trivulsi. Such vessels were named diatrcta, Mart, xii. 70, 
9 ; Ulp. Dig. ix. 2, 27. On the other hand, toreiima (Mart. xi. 11, 
tepidi toreumata Nili, [xiv. 94,] et passim) has a more extended 
signification, and may be referred particularlj'- to the ccclata. Comp. 
Martial, xiv. 115. [Paul. Diac. p. 115 : Leshium genus vasis ccelati 
a Leshiis inventum, and these were of purple- coloured glass. Ath. xi. 
p. 486. According to Quinct. i. 21, the term ccelare cannot properly 
be used of glass ; scidptura is the word to be used of wood, ivory, 
glass, and marble. See the Excursus on The Baths. 

(6) Vasa murrhina. It is plain from the vagueness with which 
the ancients express themselves about the vasa murrhina, that they 
were not quite clear about its substance. For Avith the exception of 
the much-quoted passage of Prop. iv. 5, 26, 

Seu quae palmiferse niittunt venalia Thebse, 
Murrheaque in Parthis pocula cocta focis, 
there is no other which would not admit of a negative rather than 
of a positive use. Hence there has been a great variety of opinion 
about the material from which they were composed. Many have 
declared the murrha to be natural stone ; [e.g. agate, onyx, sardonyx, 
etc.] On the other hand, the opinion, chiefiy based on Propertius, 
that it was Chinese porcelain, has met with numerous defenders [as 
the Scaligers and Salmasius]. And this view of the subject seems 
to be the only admissible one, and agrees best with the majority of 
passages on the subject ; besides which, it receives considerable sup- 
port from the assertion (if true) of Gell, that porcelain went by the 
name of Mirrha di Smyrna, down to the middle of the sixteenth 
century. [The most important passage is in Pliny, H. N. xxxvii. 2, 
8 : Oriens murrhina mittit. Inveniuntur enim ihi in phiribus nee in- 
signihus locis Parthici regni, prcecipue in Carmania. Humor em putant 
sid) terra colore densari. Aonplitudine nusquam parvos excedunt 
abacos, crassitudine raro quanta dictum est vasipotorio, etc. Whence 
it appears that Pliny did not consider it an artificial product. The 
riiineral which suits Pliny's description best, is the Fluor or Derby- 
shire spar, from which exactly similar vessels are made in England. 



Scene II.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 305 

It is soft^ and fragile^ and of a faint brilliancy, &c,, just as Pliny says. 
This opinion is tlie one now most generally adopted among the 
learned. The Roman jurists declared that murrhina (although of 
great value, Plin. xxxvii. 2, 7) were not to be counted as gems.] 
There were genuine and false murrhina, the latter probably an imi- 
tation in glass, as Plin. xxxvi. 26, 67, in enumerating the different 
glasses manufactured, says, ßt et album et murrhinum. [The passage 
of Propertius cited above probably refers to this imitation. In re- 
ference to the uses of the vessels we shall class them as follows. 

1. Vam for preserving liquids, in cellars, chambers, tabernae, 
and partly for transporting them in 

{a) larger sorts : doli^ cadi, amphorce, lagence, which, as they were 
chiefly for wine (though also for oil, Cato, R. R. 13 ; and honey, 
Cic. Verr. ii. 74), are mentioned in the Excursus on The Drinks. 
(h) Smaller sorts for keeping articles in though only for a short 
time, the contents being destined for speedy consumption. Ampulla 
(ßoixßvXog, \r]Kv9og, Xr]Kvdiov), short and thickset in shape, with a 
narrow neck. Plin. Up. iv. 30. If designed for hanging up, it was 
provided with a handle. Oil was kept in them for bathing. (Appul. 
Flor. ii. 9 ; Mart. iii. 82, 26 ; Cic. de Fin. iv. 12.) Also vinegar 
(Plin. H. N. XX. 14, 54), and wine. They were also used for 
drinking out of. Mart. vi. 35 : 

. . . vitreisque tepentem 
AmpuUis potas semisupimis aqnam. 

Suet. i)om. 21. This often happened on a journey. Plaut. Jfe^c. 
V. 2, 86 ', comp. Pers. i. 3, 43. Leathern bottles were also used for 
this purpose, scortece ampullce. Col. viii. 2. 

Alahastrum was used only for ointment and oil ; it was cylin- 
drical in shape, decreasing upward, and always without handles. 
Plin. H. N. ix. 35, 56 j xxi. 4, 10. It was made of onyx (hence 
called onyx), alabaster, and other sorts of stone, as well as glass. 
Many derive it from « and \aß{], referring to the absence of han- 
dles. Others think that it received its name from the material of 
which it was usually made. Müller and Welcker, on the contrary, 
that the stone took its name from the vessel. Its use is evident 
from Cicero in Non. xv. 17, plenus unguenti. Mart. xi. 85 Plin. H. N. 
xiii. 2, 3, unguenta optime servantur in alabastris -, xxxvi. 5, 12. The 
alabastra were carried in thongs, and there were regular stands for 
them, äXaßa(7rpo9r]Kr]. 

2. Vasa for drawing, pouring out, and distributing. 

Those for water, urna, urceus, nanus, &c,, have been already 
discussed ; those for wine were called guttus, simpulum, epichysis, 
cyathus. Varro, L. L. v. 124, Most probably guttus, and the Greek 

X 



306 THE HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

epichysis (Plaut. Rud. v. 2, 32), were small cans with narrow necks 
(Hor. Sat. i. 6, 118, cum patera guttus, i.e. tlie can with the saucer 
under it. See Heindorf, ad he. ; guttus faginus in Pliny, H. N. xvi. 
73) ; simpuvium and cyathus, a special kind of wine ladles ; see 
the Excursus on the Table Utensils. Gutti were not used as ladles, 
but more as oil or ointment cruets, Gell. xvii. 18. They are men- 
tioned in the baths, Juv. iii. 263 ; xi. 158. Gutturnium was likewise 
a can with a narrow neck, Paul. p. 98 ; also called eutumium, Paul, 
p. 51. The simpuvium was used at sacrifices, called by Varro, in 
Non. XV. 12, modus matidce \ it was of wood or earthenware. A 
similar can for pouring out water over the washing-basin was called 
manalis, Varro in Non. xv. 32. All these cans have a handle and 
mouth, but they vary much. Sometimes the handle rises high 
above the vessel -, sometimes it is small ; the narrow neck is some- 
times long, sometimes short, &c. See some cans of wonderful 
workmanship in Mus. Borh. ii. 47; xii. 59; xiii. 43. Compare iv. 43; 
V. 15 ; vi. 29 ; xii. 55 ; xiii. 46 ; xiii. 27. 

3. Drinking- vessels. See the Excursus on the Table Utensils. 

4. Cooking-vessels. See p. 298. 

5. Table utensils, as dishes, saucers, &c. See the Excursus on 
the Table Utensils. 

6. Washing- vessels. One of the largest was called nassiterna. 
Fest. p. 169, vas ansatum et patens. Varro, R. R. i. 22, ex cere. Plant. 
Stich, ii. 2, 27. Lahrum was large, but it denotes in a wider sense 
every sort of large tub used for wine and oil, &c. Cato, R. R. 13. 
It was made of marble, clay, and metal. Col. xii. 15, 50. It is a 
bathing-tub in Plin. Ep. v. 6 ; Ovid. Fast. iv. 76 ; Cic. ad Fam. xiv. 
20. Pelvis was, according to Nonius, xv. 4, sinus aquarius in quo 
varia perluuntur, i. e. a rinsing-tub. Juv. iii. 277, patidas effundere 
pelves. It also served as a foot-bath, Varro, L. L. v. 119. Prceferi- 
culum was a pelvis for religious uses. Festus and Paul. p. 248. 

Aquiminarium resembled it, being a sort of rinsing-tub. Pomp. 
Dig. xxxiv. 2, 21, where a silver one is mentioned ; or perhaps it 
was used for washing the hands in. Pauli. Dig. xxxiii. 10. Polu- 
brum and trulleum were washing-basins. Nonius, xv. 11, makes both 
words identical. See Paul. Diac, p. 247. Non. xv. 32, trulleum, quo 
manus perluuntur. Malluvium is also explained to be a basin for 
washing the hands, Paul, and Fest. p. 160. Lehes is reckoned among 
the same sort by Servius, ad Virg. ^n. iii. 466 ; Mus. JBorb. x. 35. 

CURTAINS. 

Their use in the theatre, in atria and arcades, and before door- 
ways, has already been discussed. Such hangings seem to have also 



Scene II.] THE HOUSEHOLD UTE^^SILS. 307 

been used as tapestry to cover the walls and ceilings. See above. 
Wustemann's explanation of the suspensa aulcea of Horace. Porpbyr, 
on Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 54 ; Serv. on Virg. jEn. i. 701, in domihus tende- 
hardur aulcea ut imitatio tentoriorum ßeret ; unde et in thalamis hoc 
fieri hodieque conspicimus. Such hangings are seen, tastefully draped, 
in several frescos ; and on the lamp, in Passer, luc.ßct. iii, 37. 

Conopium vs^as a kind of veil-like hanging, properly mosquito-net, 
used only by effeminate persons. Hor. Epod. ix. 16 ; Juv. vi. 80 ; 
and Schol. culieare conopium, Prop. iii. 11, 45.] 

IMPLEMENTS FOR CLEANING. 

The implements used for cleaning the walls, floor, ceilings, and 
furniture, were scopce, besoms made of the branches of the wild 
myrtle, oxymyrsine (ruscus aculeata, Linn.), or the tamarisk, Tama- 
rix Gallica, Plin. xxiii. 9, 83 ', xvi. 26, 45, [Mart. xiv. 82 j Cato, R. R. 
152, scopce virgece] ; and sponges, spongice. [Mart. xiv. 144.] Amongst 
sponges, the Punic or African, and the Rhodian, were much prized ; 
but the softest came from the Lycian town Antiphellos, Plin. H. N. 
ix. 45, 69 ', xxxi. 11. They were sometimes fastened to a long, and 
at others to a short, staff j in which case they were called penicuU, 
which signifies sponges, and not brushes or hair brooms. Terence^ 
Eun. iv. 7, 7. [Paul. Diac. p. 208, penicuU spongice long<B propter 
similitudinem caudarum appellate. ~\ This is the infelix damnatce 
spongia virgce, Mart. xii. 48 ; and the arundo, Plaut. Stich, ii. 2, 23, 
They were also used for cleaning shoes. Plaut. Me^icechm. ii. 3, 40; ii. 
2, 12. [Fest, V. penem. p. 230.] It appears doubtful whether they 
had not also similar contrivances made of bristles. We at least 
might infer this from the second diminutive pmicillus, as they 
manufactured plasterers' brushes of bristles, Plin. xxviii. 17, 71. 
Why not also brooms ? Plin. ix. 45, Qß. [Long poles were used for 
clearing away the cobwebs, and ladders in cleaning the ceilings. 
Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12, perticce quihus aranece detergantur, scalce 
qucB ad lacunaria admoveantur. The besoms have been already 
mentioned. See note 17, page 122.] 

The passages from which we have borrowed this description of 
the busy manner of cleaning the house, are Plaut. Asin. ii. 4, 18 ; 
Stick ii. 2, 23 ; Juv. xiv. 63 : 

Verre pavimentum ; nitidus ostende columnas : 

Arida cum toto descendat aranea tela : 

Hie leva argentum, vasa aspera tergeat alter. 



X 2 



EXCUESUS IV. SCENE IL 



THE MANNEE OF LIGHTINa. 

ONE of tlie imperfections in tlie domestic economy of the ancients 
was the universal use of oil-lamps. Had they provided 
against the uncleanliness by having glass cylinders to consume the 
smoke (fuligo), we should not he so much surprised at the pre- 
ference given to oil over tallow and wax. But they had no in- 
vention of the sort, and in spite of all the elegance and ingenuity 
displayed in their lamps of bronze and precious metals, the ancients 
could not prevent their ornamented ceilings from being blackened, 
and their breathing oppressed, by smoke. The nature of the 
country doubtless led them to use oil, but its cheapness does not 
appear a sufficient reason for their having continued to bear its 
discomforts, and we must therefore rather suppose that at that 
time wax and tallow candles were not made skilfully enough to 
afford a good light : hence we find that the lucerna was used by 
the poor, whilst the smoky oil-lamp was burned in the palaces of 
the wealthy. 

The whole apparatus for lighting is mentioned by Appul. Met. 
iv. : Tcedis, lucernis, cereis, sehaceis, et cceteris nocturni luminis instru- 
mentis darescunt tenebrce. The tcsdce, properly slips of pine, were 
not intended for the usual house-lighting, so that only the lucernae 
and candelce, which latter are partly cerce, and partly sehace^, re- 
main to be noticed. We learn that these only were in use at a more 
ancient period, [no mention is ever made of them among the Greeks; 
see Becker's Charicles, Eng. Trans, p. 130,] the lamp being of later 
invention. Varro, i. L. v. 34 ; also De vita Pop. Horn. ; in »Serv. ad 
Virg. Jin. i. 727 ; [Val. Max. iii. 6, 4 ; comp. Cic. de Sen. 13] ; 
Mart. xiv. 43, Candelabrum Corinthium : 

Nomina candelse nobis antiqua dederunt : 
Non norat parcos uncta lucerna patres. 

Athen, xv. 700. Instead of our wick, they used for the candelse, 
the pith of a kind of rush, the indigenous papyrus, scirpus. Plin. 
xvi. 37, 70 ] AntJiol Pal vi. 249. Perhaps the same thing may also 
be understood by the funiculus of Varro. These rushes were 
smeared over with wax or tallow, although tallow-candles, sebacecs 
(in Amm. Marc, xviii. 6, fax sebalis), were only employed for the 



Scene II.] THE MAXNER OF LiaHTING. 309 

commonest purposes. We learn from Varro that there were other 
candelae, in earlier times, besides the cerese. Martial has, amonff 
his Apophoreta, two different epigrams (candela, 40, 

Ancillai» tibi sors dedit lucernse 
Tutas quse vigil exigit tenebras. 
and cereus, 42). 

Hie tibi nocturnos prsestabit cereus ignes, 
Subducta est puero namque lucerna tuo. 

in both of which he appears to mean that the candela and cereus 
were considered commoner than the lucerna. This is more plain 
from Juv. iii. 287, where Umbricius says of himself in distinction 
to the cenea lampas of the rich : 

. . . Quern luna solet deducere vel breve lumen 
Candelse, cujus dispenso et temporo filum ; 

and from Pliny, xxxiv. 3, 6, where he speaks of the extravagant 
prices of the candelabra, which nevertheless took their name from 
so insignificant a thing. Wax candles are, however, mentioned 
with lamps in descriptions of splendour and profusion ] and Virgil 
{^n. i. 727) says of the Palace of Dido : 

. . . dependent lychni laquearibus aureis 
Incensi et noctem flammis funaha vincunt. 

Boettiger was therefore wrong in supposing that the ancients were 
unacquainted with the use of wax lights. The cerei, the use of 
which at the nocturnal comissatio is mentioned by Seneca, Epist. 
22, and the candelee generally, were^not torches, and the candelabra 
■were formed to hold them. Serv. ad Virg. supra ; [Paul. Diac. p. 
46, 42 ; Isidor. xx. 10] ; Donat. ad Ter. Aiidr. i. 1, 88. [The can- 
delabra for candles were also called funalia, in a wider sense. 
Isid. XX. 10 : funalia candelabra exsf antes stimulos habicerunt, quibus 
funiculi ßgebantur. In Ov. Met. xii. 246, 

Lampadibus densum rapuit funale coruscis. 

the word funalia seems used as a lamp-holder.] The hand-cande- 
labra mentioned by Servius are probably like the li/chmichi used at 
the LampadedromicB, in which the plate under the candle served 
the double purpose of protecting the hand fi*om the dripping of 
the hot wax, and the flame from the draught of air. 

Lamps, lucernce, are still extant in gi*eat numbers, and from the 
elegance of their forms, and the emblematic ornaments upon them, 
they, with the candelabra, are among the most interesting of anti- 
quities. The most important works on this subject are [Liceti, de 
lue. antiq. reconditis] j Bellori, Luce7'ncs sepidcrales ; Passeri, Luc. 



310 THE MANNER OF LIGHTING. [Excursus IV. 

ßctiles; AnticJiitä d'Ercolano, viii. ',Mus. £orb. ; Millin. Monum. ined. 
ii. 160. 

The difference frequently made between lucernes cubiculares, 
balneares, tricliniares, sepidcrales, can only refer to the different uses, 
and the most we can assume is that the tricliniares were more 
elegant than the balneares, and had more wicks than the cubicu- 
lares, which last, although the proper night lamps, served for light- 
ing the sitting-rooms generally. Mart. x. 38, 7, and xiv. 39. The 
sepulcrales, so called from having been frequently found in tombs, 
were not made for that purpose, but only given to the deceased as 
usual lamps. [This remark requires correction ; for there were 
special lamps, the ornaments and inscriptions of which show that 
they were exclusively used in tombs, e. g. sit tibi terra levis anima 
dtdcis ; and Diis Manibus, Passer, iii. 49, 46, 51 ; Bellor. ii. 16. 
These lucernee were placed by the relatives on the tomb or in the 
vault, either yoluntarily or in compliance with the last will of the 
deceased. In Modest. Dig. xl. 4, 44, Msevia wills ut monumento 
meo alternis mensibus luce7'nam accendant et sollennia mortis peragant. 
See Petron. 3.] 

Most of the lamps we possess are of terra coita [hence called 
testa, Virg. Georg, i. 391], or bronze, but lucernce aurece, argeniece^ 
vitrecB [Passer, ii. t. 83], and even of marble, are mentioned. Those 
of terra cotta are usually of a long round form, flat and without 
feet: on the upper part, where the orifice for pouring in the oil is, 
there are often designs in relief, chiefly mythological [often beasts, 
as elephants, lions, eagles, peacocks, apes, horses, she-wolves with 
Romulus and Remus, hares, dolphins, or battles of gladiators, 
trophies, flowers, chaplets, masks ; see Passer, iii, 20], and far 
better than could be expected on utensils of every-day use. [The 
models were made by particular ^^w// sigillatores, Orell. 4191, who 
sold them to the potter. The name of the maker, or a mark of 
the workshop, often stands at the bottom, e. g. a garland, a half- 
moon, etc. ; sometimes the name of the patron or emperor. Passer. 
i. p. X. See Mus. JSorb. vi. 30.] Sometimes they have only one 
wick, monomyxos, monolychnis ; [dilychnis, Petron. 30] ; at others, 
several, dimyxi, trimyxi, polymyxi ; [lue, bilychies, Orell. 3678 j 
Poll. ii. 72; X. 115; Anthol. Pal xii. 199]; Mart. xiv. 41, 
Lucerna polymixos : 

Illustrem cum tota meis convivia flammis 
Totque geram myxas, una lucerna vocor. 

They seem to have been used chiefly in the tiiclinia, or the larger 
rooms. In the Antich. d'£rcol, are wreath-shaped lamps for nine 



Scene IL] TEE MANNER OF LIGHTING. 



311 



I 



and twelve wicks, and one in the form of a skiif for fourteen wicks. 
See Juven. vi. 305 : 

Quiim bibitur concha quum jam vertigine tectum 
Ambulat et geminis exsurgit mensa lucernis. 

Petron. 64. 

The "bronze lamps were still more elegant. Among the most 
tasteful are the dimyxos, on which a winged hoy is grouped with a 
goose ; a copy of which is here given from the Mus. JBorb. iv. 14 ; 




one with three lights, on which is a dancer with the Phrygian cap 
{Antich. d'Ercol. t. 29), and one with a Silenus. Miis. Borh. i. 1. 10, 



312 



THE MANNER OF LIGHTING. [Excursus IV. 



Hemp, camiahis, and flax, or the tow taken from it, were used 
as wicks (Plin. xix. 1, 3), and the leaves of a kind of verbascum, 
thence called (pXöfiog Xvxvlrig. Diosc. iv. 106 ; Plin. xxv. 10, 74. A 
lamp is said to have been found at Stabise with the wick still pre- 
served. 

As the orifice for pouring in the oil was small, special boat-like 
vessels, infundihula, having in front a small hole only, through 
which the oil was poured, were used. Instruments were also used 
for raising and snufiing the wicks, and were fastened by a chain to 
the lamp. Small pincers for raising the wicks have also been found 




at Pompeii in great numbers. When a figure stood upon the lamp, 
it sometimes held this instrument by a chain in its hand. Antich. 
etc. t. 28, 69 ; Mus. JBorh. iv. t. 58, vii. t. 15. 

The lamps were either placed on a candelabrum, or were sus- 
pended by chains from the roof. Virg. ^n. i. 727, dependent lychni 
laquearibus aureis. Petron. 30. There were also candelabra, with a 
number of branches, on which lamps could be hung. Those found 
in the buried towns are of very dififerent heights ; from one Neapo- 
litan palm to upwards of six, or even seven, palms. They stood 
upon the ground, but were, in comparison with the tables and sofas, 
of a considerable height. iMcema de specula candelabri. Appul. 
Met. ii. 

The poorer classes used those made of wood. Cic. ad Quint, fr. 
iii. 7 ; Mart. xiv. 44, Candelabrum ligneum : 

Esse vides lignum : serves nisi lumina, fiet 
De candelabro magna lucerna tibi. 

Petron. 95 ; [Caecil. in Non. iii. 74] ; comp. Athen, xv. 700. In the 
temples and palaces, and places where they remained fixtures, they 
were made of marble, and ornamented with reliefs {Mus. Pio-Clem. 
iv. 1, 5, V. i. 3), [vii. 37 ; Mus. Borb. i. 54] ; and when intended as 
offerings to the gods, of valuable metals, or even of precious stones, 
like that which Antiochus desig-ned for the temple of Jupiter Capi- 
tolinus. Cic. Verr. iv. 28. But they were usually of bronze [Cic. 
Verr. iv. 26], and the labour spent on getting them up made this 
an important branch of ancient bronze manufacture. 



Scene II.] THE MANXER OF LIGHTIIS^G. 



313 




The proper candelabra (also lychnucM) — for tlie Imnpadaria, m 
the form of statues and trees, 
were the inventions of a later 
age — consisted of three and 
sometimes four pieces — the foot, 
the shaft, and the discus oi plate. 
The slender shaft was usually 
fluted, and rested on three feet 
of animals, above which was 
some leaf-ornament — it termi- 
nated in a capital, on which was 
a kind of vase, covered by the 
plate bearing the lamp. Some- 
times a head or figure was above 
the capital, and supported the 
plate, as is the case in the Mtts. 
Borh. iv. t. 57, and in the ac- 
companying engraving. 

The candelabra produced at 
^ginaand Tarentum were espe- 
cially remai-kable for the beauty 
of their workmanship, and each 
place signalised itself in the con- 
struction of certain parts. Plin. 
xxxiv. 3, 6; comp. Mueller, 
^ginet. p. 80. Some have a 
second plate immediately above 
the foot, and are beautifully 
ornamented. There were also 
Corinthian ones, as they were 
called, which sold at high prices 
(Mart. xiv. 43), but Pliny de- 
nies that they were genuine. 

There were also candelabra so 
constructed that the lamps could 
be raised or lowered ; in these 
the shaft was hollow, and into it 
a staff was fitted ; this bore the 
plate, and had several holes, into 
which a pin could be inserted. One of these is copied in the 
Antich. t. 70, and a still more ingenious one in t. 71, and Mus. Borb. 
vi. 61 : in the latter the animals' feet could be laid together by a 
hinge attached, and it seems to have been thus made for use on 




314 THE MANNER OF LIGHTING. [Excursus IV. 

a journey : it was only three palms five inches high, "but could he 
lengthened if necessary. 

There were also four other sorts of candelahra, in which the 
simple shaft became either a statue holding a torch, from which the 
lamp hurned {Mus. Borb. vii. t. 15), or above which two arms were 
raised, holding the plate (iv. t. 59, vii. t. 30), [in xiii. 14, the statue 
forms the lower part of the shaft,] or t£e shaft was changed into a 
column, whereon a Moor's head served as a lamp (vii. t. 15). But 
still more numerous are those called lampadaria : they are stems of 
trees, or pillars standing on a base, from the capital of which the 
lamps were suspended. Mus. Borh. ii. t. 13, viii. t. 31 ; Antich. t. 
65, 8. But these must not be confounded with the lychnuchi, men- 
tioned by Pliny, xxxiv. 3, 8, Placuere et lychnuchi pensiles in deluhris 
aut arhorum modo mala ferentium lucentes, qualis est in templo Apol- 
linis Palatini, as he was describing something unusual, and the 
lychnuchi pensiles may perhaps be compared to our chandeliers. 
That in the temple of Apollo, however, was of the time of Alexander. 
Something similar is possibly intended by Athen, xv. 700. The 
lamps often stood also on tripods. Mus. Borh. ix. 13, vi. 30. 

They could scarcely have held sufficient oil to have kept burning 
continually, when the revels lasted late, and fresh oil was therefore 
supplied. Petron. 22 ; in c. 70, we find sweet-smelling oil added ; 
an act of extravagance also mentioned in Martial, x. 38, 9, where 
the lucerna which lighted the bridal of Catinus is said to be nimbis 
ebria Nicerotianis. 

[THE LATEEN^E, LANTHOENS. 

Isid. XX. 10 : Laterna dicta, quod lucem interius habeat clausam. 
Etenim ex vitro, intus recluso lumine, ut ventißatus non adire possit, 
et ad prcebendum lumen facile ubique circumferatur. Mart. xiv. 61. 
Plaut. Aul. iii. 6, 30, laterna Punica. The frame was mostly of 
bronze, the other part of glass (Isid.) or thin plates of horn. Plaut. 
Amph. i. 1, 185. 

Volcanum in cornu conclusum geris. 
Ath. XV. p. 699 ; Mart. xiv. 6, cornea ; or of oiled linen, Plaut. Bacch. 
iii. 3, 42 : 

It magister quasi lucerna uncto exspretus linteo. 

Cic. ad Att. iv. 3, linea laterna, though the reading is doubtful. 
Mus. Borb. ii.] 



EXCUESUS V. SCENE II. 



THE CLOCKS. 



IVrOTWITHSTANDING tlie magnificence of tlie domestic ar- 
■^^ rangements of the ancients, and the refined care bestowed on 
every thing that could make life agreeable, they still were without 
many ordinary conveniences. For instance, a clock, to regulate the 
business of the day, according to a fixed measure of time, to us an 
indispensable piece of furniture, which the man of moderate means 
can command with facility, and even the poorest does not like to 
be without, — was, for nearly five hundred years, a thing quite un- 
known in Rome, and even in latter times only in a very imperfect 
state. Originally they did not divide the day into hours at all, but 
guessed at the time from the position of the sun. Varro, L. L. vi. 
89 ; vi. 4, 5 ; Plin. H. N. vii. 60. Afterwards the division which 
followed was very inconvenient. 

It is true, they reckoned twenty-four hoiu's from midnight to 
midnight, but they divided the regular duration of the day, between 
the rising and setting of the sun, into twelve hours, and allotted 
the remainder of the time to the night. After the Romans became 
acquainted with the use of sun-dials, the natural day was divided 
into twelve equal hours. Not so the night, in which the position of 
the stars and the increasing or decreasing darkness were the only 
means of distinguishing single portions of time : hence there was 
no division of it into hours at first. Afterwards the use of water- 
clocks became more general, but even then the former custom de- 
rived from the camp, by which the night was divided into four 
watches, still remained much in use. In civil life it became more 
subdivided : eight divisions were adopted, named by Macrobius, Sat. i. 
3, and found essentially the same in Censorinus, de die nat. 24. 
According to the former they were called, beginning with sunset, 
vespera (p'epusctdwn), prima fax (luminihus accensis), concuhia (nox), 
intempesta (nox) : and from midnight to sunrise, tnediis noctis incli- 
natio, gallieinium, conticinium, diluculum. [See also Varro, L. L. vi. 
6, 7 ; Isidor. v. 31.] Still even in Cicero's time the night was 
divided into twelve hours. P. Rose. A. 7. On this account a faulty 
state of things naturally arose, for the hours of night and day being 
of variable length throughout the year, and only equal at the 
equinoxes, theii' eleventh houi-^ for instance, began at fifty-eight 



316 



THE CLOCKS. 



[Excursus V. 



minutes past two^ according to our mode of reckoning, in the win- 
ter solstice, and at two minutes past five in tlie summer solstice. 
Thus any comparison of the Roman hours with ours, is attended 
with this difficulty, that we must always know the natural length of 
the day for the latitude of Rome, in order that our calculation 
may be correct. Still for a tolerably near computation, the table 
given in Ideler's Lehrbuch d. Chronologie, and in the Handbuch, 
Part ii., is sufficient ; '■ it gives the length of the Roman day in our 
equi-form hours for the eight principal points of the ecliptic, in 
the year 45 b.c., being the first year of Julius Csesar's regulation of 
the calendar.' 

Day of the Year, Length of the Day. 

23 December 
6 February 
23 March 
9 May . 
25 June . 
10 August 
25 September 
9 November 

In order to give a more clear and comprehensive view of the 
matter, a Table is added, comparing the Roman hours with ours, 
at both the solstices, where the difference is greatest, while at the 
equinoxes alone our hours coincide with those of the Roman. 

In Summer. In Winter. 

Ylovi. . .hours, min.' sec. hours, min. sec. 



3urs. 


min. 


8 


54 


9 


50 


12 




14 


10 


15 


6 


14 


10 


12 




9 


50 



1 


4 


27 


2 


5 


42 


3 


6 


58 


4 


8 


13 


5 


9 


29 


6 


80 


44 


7 


12 




8 


1 


15 


9 


2 


31 


10 


3 


46 


11 


5 


2 


12 


6 


17 


of the 


day? 


33 



30 



30 



30 



30 



30 



30 



7 


33 


8 


17 


9 


2 


9 


46 


10 


31 


11 


15 


12 




12 


44 


1 


29 


2 


13 


2 


58 


3 


42 


4 


27 



30 



30 



30 



30 



20 



30 



This division of the hours lasted a long time, and it is only in 
calendars of the latest period that we find the length of the night 
and day, through the different months, given according to equi- 



Scene H.] THE CLOCKS. 317 

noctial hours. Of this kind is the Calendarium rusticwn Farnesia- 
nu7n, which is to he found in Grsev. Thes. antiq. Rom. viii., with 
Orsini's explanations ; and in 3£us. Borh. ii. t. 44. Still it contains 
as yet no indication of a Christian sera, as in the case of the Viennese 
one, which is referred to the age of Constantine. In Grsev. 97 ; Ideler, 
Handbuch d. Chron. ii. 1-39. A question difficult of solution offers 
itself, whether in giving the hour, as hora sexta, nona, decimal the 
current, or already elapsed hour is meant, (S. Salmas. on Vopisc. Flo- 
rian. 6, 6345 Fxerc. adSoIm. 636) ; whether, for instance, hora no?ia 
denoted the equinoctial hour from two to three, or was equivalent to 
saying, at three o'clock. It is true that on ancient sun-dials the 
hom'S are only divided by means of eleven lines, which have no 
numbers placed against them. [See below. Sometimes, however, 
numbers were engraved. Varro, L. i. vi. 4 : meridies ah eo, quod 
medius dies, D atitiqid, non R in hoc dicebant, ut Prmneste incisum, in 
solario vidi.'] If the shadow of the finger (gnomon) fell upon the first 
line, the first hour would be already elapsed, axi^ hora prima wovldi 
be the commencement of the second. [So in Pers. iii. 4, quinta 
dum Ivnea tangitur umbra denotes the end of the fifth hour, or eleven 
o'clock.] When, on the other hand, Martial, iv. 8, says. 

Prima salutantes atque altera continet hora, 
Exercet raucos tertia causidicos. 

In quintain varies extendit Eoma labores ; 
Sexta qiiies lassis, septima finis erit. 

Sii£&eit in nonam nitidis octava palustris ; 
Imperat exstructos frangere nona toros. 

it is evident that in each case the current hour is meant ; and as 
nona is the usual hour for the coena, hora nona ccenare can, to agree 
with the passage, denote only, at the beginning of the ninth hour. 
The same seems also to follow from the epigram which has already 
been quoted by others. Anthol. Pal. x. 43 : 

*E| uipoLi fiox^ois iKavdraTai, al Se /uer' avras 
Tpdfj.fj.ao'i SeiKvv/xevai ZH0I Kiyovcri ßporols. 

For the letters a — t' would fall to the fii'st six hours, and ^ denote 
the whole of the seventh. 

According to Pliny, (vii. 60), there was no sun-dial in Rome 
until eleven years before the war with Pyrrhus, (about 460 a. u. c), 
although their use had already been made known in Greece by 
Anaximander, or his scholar, Anaximenes, about 500 years before 
Christ. See Ideler, Lehrb. 97. L. Papirius Cursor placed the first 
on the temple of Quirinus, as Pliny, after Fabius Vestalis, relates. 
Varro, on the other hand, [as well as Censorin. de d. nat. 23,] dates 
the introduction of this time-measure about twenty years later, and 



318 THE CLOCKS. [Excursus Y. 

makes M. Valerius Messala "bring to Kome tlie first sun-dial, cap- 
tured at the conquest of Catina, A. tj. c. 491. Meierotto was in 
error in concluding from tlie fragment of the Boeotia, or Bis com- 
pressa of Plautus, where the parasite says, 

XJt ilium dii perdant, primus qui horas reperit, 
Quique adeo primus statuit hie solarium. — 
Nam me puero vetus hie erat solarium, etc. 

(he means his stomach), that the first solarium came to Rome in the 
time of Plautus. This would have been about the time of the 
second Punic war ; but was it actually necessary that Plautus should 
allude to his youth in order to make this joke ? [The sun-dials, thus 
brought from Sicily to Rome, had one great and natural inconve- 
nience, as Pliny says : 7iec congruehant ad horas ejus linece ; paru- 
erunt tarnen eis annis vndecentum ; donee Q. Marcius PhilippuSf 
diligentius ordinatum juxta posuit. Censorin. 23.] These earliest 
sim-dials were evidently of the kind called by the Greeks ttöXoq. 
The old sort, or yvMj.iMv, was not introduced, as the Romans adopted 
the latest improvements of the Greeks, (see Becker's Charicles, Eng. 
Trans, p. 173, note 3), Still there was one such gnomon at Rome, 
viz. the obelisk, one hundred and ten feet high, erected by Au- 
gustus in the Campus Martins, with the inscription, 8oli donum 
dedit ; now on Monte Citorio. Pliny describes it accurately, H. N. 
xxxvi. 10. The sun-dials, horologia solaria, or sciotherica [solaria 
alone, Varro, L. L. vi. 4,] were at a later period in very general 
use, and made of various forms. Comp. Vitr. ix. 9 ; [Isid. xx. 13 ;] 
Emesti, de solariis, and Clavis Ciceron. ; Pitture d'ErcoL iii. 337 ,• 
Martini, Ahh. v. d. Sonnenuhren d. Alten. ; Van Beeck Calkoen, Diss. 
Math. ant. de ho7'ologiis vett. sciothericis ; Mus. Borh. tu. Frontisp. As 
the shadow of the finger (gnomon) placed perpendicularly upon the 
horizontal surface, had to give the twelve hours of the natural day, 
which were at one time short) at another long, a threefold division 
was made. Vitr. ix. 8 : Omnium autemßgurarum descriptionumque 
earum effectus unus, uti dies cequinoctialis hrumalisque itemque solsti- 
tialis in duodecim partes cequaliter sit divisus. [Of the numerous 
kinds of sun-dials two, at least have been preserved, the hollow 
hemispherical, and the flat one ; which are made of marble, com- 
mon stone, or bronze : while the lines upon them often bear traces of 
having been coloured red. The first was found at Tusculum, in 
1741. Soon after, several were discovered near Castel Nuovo and 
Tibur, more at Pompeii. Avellino {descr. di una casa, pp. 29, 32, 60) 
gives copies of two sun-dials, found in the house of the ornamented 
capitals. The hour-lines are, in almost every instance, engraved in 
the same manner, and mostly bounded by the segments of two 



Scene II.] 



THE CLOCKS. 



319 



circles. The mid-day line m, which is sometimes longer, sometimes 
shorter, is cut by another line running from East to West, upon the 

Midday. 




Midnight. 

intersections of which with the hour lines the shadow of the gno- 
mon g must fall at fixed times. On these intersecting points the 
hours are here marked in the modern fashion, the corresponding 
Roman hours being given at the end of each line. In the first, and 
in the twelfth hour, (between 6 and 7, and 5 and 6), the shadow 
falls between the circle and point 7 or 5.] 

On dull days there was still as much uncertainty as ever about 
the time of day until clepsydrce became known : they, in some 
degree, amended this deficiency. They were similar to our sand- 
glasses, since the water contained in a vessel was allowed gradually 
to escape. On their form, Khilua (av\6g, yOfjtöi;), see Becker's 
Charicles, Eng. Trans, p. 174, note 4. But they are also called sola- 
ria. Cic. de not. d. ii. 34 : Solarium vel descriptum, vel ex aqua. 
[Censorin. 23 : P. C. Nasica censor ex aqua fecit horarium, quod et 
ipsum ex consuetudine noscendi a sole horas solarium coeptum vocari.'] 
So the clepsydra was also called yvMfxojv by the Greeks. Ath. ii. 



320 THE CLOCKS. [Excursus V. 

p. 42. The clepsydrae mentioned by Aristotle were not transpa- 
rent, the use of glass being then very restricted. Later, this the 
most fitting material, was adopted. The first clepsydra was, accord- 
ing to Pliny, (vii. 69), publicly set up by Scipio Nasica, in the year 
595 A.U.C.; but lately, doubts have been raised (Ideler, Lehrh. 258) 
as to whether this water-clock was a mere clepsydra, as it is named 
horologium by Pliny, and horarium by Censorin. de die not. 24, It 
has on the contrary been taken for an actual clock of the invention 
of Ctesibios. From this it would further follow that that ingenious 
mechanician did not (as Athenseus, iv. 174, relates) live under Pto- 
lemseus Evergetes II., but perhaps under the first, which would 
place his date almost one hundred years earlier, since the second 
did not succeed to the throne till 608 a.u.c. The latter suppo- 
sition, derived perhaps from a similar, but probably erroneous 
account, given by Beckmann, {Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Erfind, i. 284,) 
appears quite unnecessary ; for Ptolemy VII. had reigned in Cy- 
renaica since 583 a.u.c, though he did not mount the throne of 
Egypt till later, and even then Ctesibios could very easily belong 
to his age, and his water-clock still be known as early as 595. 

It does not seem, indeed, that so much must be inferred from 
the words horologium and horarium, which after all only signify 
hour-measures. Pliny evidently means to say, that until this 
period they had been confined entirely to sun-dials, and possessed 
no sort of water-clock. His words are, Etimn turn tarnen nuhilo in- 
cericB fuere horce usque ad proximum lustrum. Tunc Scipio Nasica 
colleya Lcenatis prirmis aqua divisit horas csque noctium ac dierum^ 
idque horologium sub tecto dicavit anno nrbis Dxcv. Now it cer- 
tainly was not a single clepsydra which marked perhaps the lapse 
of one hour ; but why could it not be a junction of several of various 
size, or a larger vessel, on which there were certain marks by which 
the lapse of the several hours could be perceived? This last 
appears to be what Sidon. Apoll, means in the passage quoted by 
Ideler, Ep. ii. 9, nuntius per spatia clepsydrce horarum incrementa 
servafis. Ideler's remark after Beckmann, that clepsydrce were not 
known to the Komans till under Pompey, is not supported by the 
slightest hint or trace of any such thing in the dialogue de causis 
corruptee eloquentixB ; they are not even once mentioned, and it is 
only said that the orators were stinted by him (Pompey) to a fixed 
time (28). Erimus tertio consulatu On. Eompeius adstrinxit^ impo- 
suitque veluti frenos eloquentice. On this account, clepsydrce were no 
doubt given them, of which frequent mention is made at a later 
period. Plin. Ep. ii. 11, says, dixi horis pcene quinque, nam duo- 
decim clepsydris, quas spatiosissimas accej^eram (they were difi*erent 



Scene II.] THE CLOCKS. 321 

ones then) sunt addita quatuor. Others read^ nam depsydrce vigintiy 
and this certainly accords better with the horis quinque j for in that 
case to each clepsydra would be assigned the fifth part of an hour, 
so that quatuor viginti clepsydrce made up, doubtless, pcene horas 
quinque. Compare Mart. vi. 35, viii. 7. [Lyd. de mag. ii. 16 ; Bur- 
chardi, de ratione temporis ad 'perorandum injud. puhl. apud Roina- 
nos.'] These clepsydrae were naturally placed in private houses 
also. [Cic. ad Fam. xvi. 18, writes to Tiro at Tusculum, liorolo- 
gium et lihros mittam. Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 7, 12. But in temples, basi- 
likas, public squares, or at monuments, sun-dials only were placed. 
Orell. 2032, 3298; Censorin. 23; Varro, L. L. vi. 4; Lyd. de mag. 
iii. 35.] The hydraulic clocks of Ctesibios, also, were probably to 
be found here and there, although they would scarcely do for the 
Koman division of the day. Nevertheless, "Weinbrenner has in- 
vented a piece of mechanism by means of which, he says, it was 
possible to denote the various hours, Vitr. ix. 9, 2 ; but all these 
contrivances were less to be depended on than a modern wooden- 
clock. 

In order to know the hour without giving themselves any trouble, 
slaves were kept on purpose to watch the solarium and clepsydra^ 
and report each time that an hour expired. Mart. viii. 'ol : 

Horas quinque puer uondum tibi nunciat, et tu 
Jam conviva mihi, Cseciliane, venis. 

Juven. X. 216 : 

. . . clamore opus est, ut sentiat auris, 
Quern dicat veuisse puer, quot nunciet horas. 

The stupid Trimalchio had in his triclinium a horologiujn, and a 
buccinator by it, to tell each time the horn* was elapsed. Petr. 26. 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE III. 



THE LIBEAEY. 

r fl IHAT an extensive library should be found in the house of a 
-*- learned and celebrated Roman poet, appears quite natural, and 
we should miss it, if it were not there ; but it would be incorrect 
to argue from the presence of a costly library, the literary tastes 
of its owner. What in the earlier periods of Roman history was 
the want merely of a few individuals, who cultivated or patronized 
literature, became by degrees an article of luxury and fashion. 
The more ignorant a man really was, the more learned he wished 
to appear, and it was considered ton to possess a rich library, even 
though its owner never took up a Greek poet or philosopher, 
perhaps never advanced so far as to read over the titles on the rolls, 
contenting himself, at the utmost, with enjoying the neatness of 
their exterior. Seneca, de Tranq. An. 9, earnestly rebukes this 
rage of heaping together a quantity of books in a library : quarum 
dominus vix tota vita sua indices perlegit. He ridicules those quihus 
voluminuni suorum frontes maxime itlacent tituUqiie \ and concludes : 
jam enim inter balnearia et thermas hihliotheca qvoque ut 7iecessarium 
domus omamentuni expolitur. Ignoscerem lüane, si e studiorum nimia 
cupidine oriretur ; nunc ista exquisita et cum imayinihus suis descripta 
sacrorum opera ingenioriim in speciem et cidtum parietum compa- 
rantur. Lucian also found himself called upon to scourge sharply 
this folly, in a particular treatise, Upoc cnTa'd)tvTov koi iroXXa ßiß\ia 
(öi'ovfievow, and very justly addresses to the object of his satire the 

proverbs : TriOrjicog 6 iriüriKOQ Kiiv j(pU(Tsa ixy ovjxßüXa, and, 'ÜVOQ Xvpag 

aKovHQ KivMv ra tjra. Comp. Mart. V. 51. Cicero, i^tticus, Horace 
(Epist. i. J8, 109), the elder and younger Pliny, naturally made a 
very different use of their libraries ; and the same may be presumed 
of Gallus. That a library was in his time a necessary article of 
furniture, may be inferred from Vitruvius, who describes it in the 
same manner as other parts of the house. And Trimalchio in 
Petronius boasts of having three libraries. According to him a 
library should look towards the east, for a two-fold reason (vi. 7) : 
Cuhicula et Bibliothecce ad orientem spectare debetit ; usus enim matu- 
tinum postidat lumen: item in hihliothecis lihri non putrescent. We 
are enabled to form a better judgment on its further arrangements 
by the excavations in Herculaneum, which have led to the dis- 
covery of an ancient library with its rolls. Around the walls of 



Scene III.] THE LIBRARY. 323 

this room were cuplsoards, not mucli above the height of a man, in 
which the rolls were kept. A row of cupboards stood in the centre 
of the room, dividing it into two parts, so that passages for walking 
only remained on the sides. It served, therefore, solely for the pre- 
servation of books, and not for using them on the spot; and as a 
small room could contain a considerable number of rolls, the 
ancient libraries do not appear to have been in general very spa- 
cious. That discovered in Herculaneum was so small, that a man 
could, by extending his arms, almost touch the walls on either side. 
See Winkelm. Am?i. z. Gesch. der Bank. W. i. 401 ; Martorelli, de 
regia theca calainaria, i. xl. [^Philosophical Tj'ansactio7is, 1752, 
p. 71;1754, p. 634.] 

The occasional observations of ancient writers correspond very 
well with the results of the discovery thus made. Vitruvius (vii. 
Prcsf. 7) says of Aristophanes, who wished to detect plagiarisms ; 
e certis arinariis inßnita volumina eduxit. Yopisc. Tacit. 8, habet 
hihliotheca UJpia in armario sexto lihrum elephanti7ium, etc. ; and 
also in Pliny, ii. 17 : Parieti (cubiculi) in hihliotheccB speciem arma- 
rium insertum est, quod non legendos lihros, sed lectitandos capit. 
Here then it was a wall-cupboard. [Sidon. Apoll. Ep. ii. 9, 
arjnar. hihlioth. ; Ulp. Big. xxxii. 1, 52.] Whether these cupboards 
were provided with doors, and could be locked, like those in which 
money and so on was deposited, we cannot determine. Seneca 
(Tranq. ix.') speaks generally not of armaria, but of tecto tenus 
exstructa locidamentay which can also be understood of mere open 
repositories. The assertion that these armaria were also called 
scrinia, is, however, erroneous. Respecting the scrinia, see the 
following Excursus. On the other hand, Juven. iii. 219, uses for 
them the expression foruli, which may however mean simply 
movable depositories. Martial very significantly calls them nidi 
(i. 118, 15 ; vii. 17, 5) ; and the comparison with a columhai^ium 
was certainly very obvious. 

After Asiuius PoUio had placed in the public library which he 
founded, the pictures or busts of illustrious men, the example began 
to be followed in private libraries. Plin. xxxv. 2 -, Suet. Tib. 70. 
An interesting proof of this is to be found in Martial (ix.), where, 
in the first epigram, the poet sends the inscription for his portrait 
to Avitus, who was desirous of placing it in his library. Then, in 
an epistle to Turanius, we read : Epigramma, quod extra ordinem 
paginarum est, ad Stertinium, clarissimmn virum, scrijjsimus, qui 
imaginem meam ponere in hibliotheca sua voluit. So also in the 
library which Hadrian founded at Athens. Paus. i. 18, 19. {oUi]- 
fiuTo) ayaXfiacfi KtKocxjxrjfisva Kai Ypa(fjaXQ' KardictiTai d' kg avra. ßißXia. 

Y 2 



324 THE LIBRARY. [Excursus I. 

They not only desired to exhibit the portraits of contemporaries, 
but as Pliny says, quin immo etiam, quce tion sunt, ßnffuntur pari- 
untque desideiia non traditos vultus, sicut in Homero evenit. Statues 
also, of the Muses, for instance, were placed there (Cic. Fayn. vii. 
23), or the lofty goddess of wisdom and creative intellect presided ; 
her statue or bust, media Ilinerva (Juven. iii. 219), giving to the 
spot a higher sanctity. 

For the purposes of the library, not only to superintend it, but 

also to increase its stores, and attend to the neatness of its exterior, 

special slaves were kept, who belonged to the larger class of the 

lihrarii. The name denotes generally all those who were used for 

writing purposes ; whence they are called also simply scribes. As 

such, however, they are to be distinguished; first, from the scribes 

publici, who were liberi, and formed an order of their own ; and 

next, from the bibliopoles, who were also called librarii. Comp. 

Eschenbach, de scribis vett. in Polen, thes. tom. iii. ; Emesti, Clav. 

Cic. s. V. scriba. Among the scribes kept by a private individual, 

a distinction is made between the librarii a studiis, ab epistolis, and 

a bibliotheca ; but whether the connexion of the two words, lib7'a- 

rius a bibliotheca, can be foimd, appears doubtful. In inscriptions 

it generally runs, librariiis et a bibliotheca ; and the latter would 

then have been the one who held the superintendence over the 

whole, for which purpose a librarius would naturally be used. The 

librarii, who transcribed for the libraries, were at a later period 

called antiquarii also. Cod. Theod. iv. 8, 2. Still the explanation 

given by Isid. Orig. vi. 14, Librarii iidem et antiquarii vocantur : 

sed librarii sunt, qui et nova et Vetera scnbtmt, antiquarii, qui tanttim- 

modo Vetera, tmde et nomen sumserunt, can hardly be deemed the 

true one. It appears more correct to suppose, that when the old 

Roman text began to pass into the running hand, those who adhered 

to the old, respectable uncial character, were named antiquarii, 

with the same right as those authors who purposely used antiqua 

et recondita verba (Suet. Aug. 86), were called by this name. And 

hence the glossaries explain the word by äpxaioypäcpog and KaWi- 

ypdcpoQ. 

The librarii were not mere transcribers, but at the same time 
book-binders, if we may p-pply this term to the rolls. 

On this subject, see Lipsius, de bibliothecis syntagma, iii.; Lo- 
meier de bibliothecis (in an antiquarian point of view very unim- 
portant). [Geraud, Sur les livres dans Vantiquite, particidierement 
chez les Ilo7nains.~\ 



EXCURSUS IL SCENE III 



THE BOOKS. 



O CirV\^AEZ, in his learned dissertation, De ornamentis lihrorum 
^ apud veteres usitatis, lias treated in detail about the external 
form of the books of the ancients ; mixing up, it is true, much that 
could be dispensed with. Still much remains, even after his labo- 
rious enquiry, to be corrected and explained ; and the rolls that 
have been discovered in Herculaneum will afford a partial enlight- 
enment. Some points have been touched on by Becker, ad Tihidl. 
iii. 1, and Elegeia Romana, 242. [Boot, Notice stir les 3Ianuscripts 
trouves ä Hercul.^ 

The material on which the books were generally wi'itten, was 
the fine bark {liber, the single layers, phily7'ce) of the ^Egyptian 
Papyrus, which, at the time of Augustus, had been brought into 
such a state of perfection, by preparation and bleaching (ablutio), 
that the quality formerly considered the best (hieratica), was now 
only ranked as third rate, while that named after Augustus took 
the first place, and the next to it bore the name of Livia. There 
were various manufactories of it at Rome : Plin. xiii. 12, 23, says, 
after speaking of the kinds above mentioned, Proximwn (nomen) 
ampliitheatriccB datum fuerat a confecturce loco. Excepit hanc Ro- 
m<B Famiii sagax officina, temiatamque ctiriosa interpolatione priti" 
cipalem fecit e pleheia et nomen ei dedit. Quce non esset ita recurata, 
in suo mansit amphitJieatrica. He mentions eight sorts in all, the 
commonest of which, the emporetica, was unfit for writing on, and 
only used for packing with, whence its name {a mercatorihiis cogno- 
minata. [On the passage in Pliny see Salmas. ad Vopise. Firm. 
5, and Boot, ib., who asserts that paper was made in Egypt, and 
then dressed, only, in Rome ; though papyrus was certainly ex- 
ported raw to Italy. Ulp. Dig. xxxii. 1, 52 : papyrum ad chartas 
jjaratiwi. See Cassiodor. Var. xi. 38 ; Isidor. vi. 10, where seven 
sorts of paper are enumerated. The chief excellencies of paper 
were considered] to be tenuitas, densitas, candor, Icevor ; the chief 
faults, which were removed by dressing, scabritia, humor, lentigo, 
tcsnia.l 

The narrow strips of this paper — in the Ilerculanean rolls 
only six fingers broad — glued together, became jmgincs, schedce, 
which, in Mart. iv. 90, does not signify a single leaf, as in Cic. 
Attic, i. 20, but the last strip of the roll. The width, and of course 
the length, of the rolls varied. Those found at Herculaneum are 



326 THE BOOKS. [ExcuKsus II. 

generally a Neapolitan palm wide, but some are narrower. [Pliny 
gives the breadth at from six to thirteen inches. The best sorts 
were thirteen ; the hieratic eleven ; the Fannian paper ten ; the 
amphitheatric nine ; the emporetic six inches. The roll of Egyp- 
tian papyrus, containing a fragment of the Iliad, is eight feet 
long, and ten inches broad. By är.X« is meant single strips of 
papyrus, or books consisting of one leaf. See Ritschl's Die Alex- 
andrin. Bibliothek, an excellent work. Guilandini, Comm. in Plin. 
de Pap. p. 180.] 

Next to Papyrus, parchment, membrana (Pergamena), the inven- 
tion of Eumenes of Pergamus, was the most practical material. 
Plin. xiii. 11, 21. [These sheets of parchment were folded and 
sewn in different sizes, like modern books ; hence Ulp. Diff. xxxii. 
52, memhrarKB nondum consictes.^ The use of it, however, was much 
more confined, as it was probably much higher in price. Although 
we read besides of writings on leather (Ulp. Di(/. xxxii. 1, 52), or 
on linen (Salm. ad Vopisc. Aurel. viii. 439. Comp. Marc. Capell. 
ii. 35), or even on silk (Symmach iv. Ep. 34), they must be consi- 
dered as belonging to the imperfections of the more ancient, or to 
the eccentricities of later times, or perhaps nothing of the nature 
of books is alluded to. [Isid. vi. 12.] 

The ink with which they wrote, atramentum Uhrarium, was a 
kind of pigment, or Chinese ink, prepared from lamp-black [and 
gum]. Plin. XXXV. 6, 25 : Fit enim et fidigine pliirihus modis, resina 
vel pice exustis. Propter quod officinas etiam cedißcavere^fumuni eum 
non emittentes ; laudatissiinum eodem modoßt e tcedis. Adulteratnr 
fornacuyn halinearumqiie fulicjine, quo ad volumina scribenda utuntur. 
Sunt qui et vini f<2cem siccatam excoquant, etc. Id. xxvii. 7, 28 : 
Atramentum librarium ex diluto ejus (absinthii) te^nperatum literas a 
musculis tuetur. [Vitr. vii. 10.] Winkelmann's account of the 
Herculanean MSS. agrees very well with this. " The Herculanean 
MSS. are written with a kind of black pigment very much like 
the Chinese ink, which has more body than the common ink. If 
the writing be held towards the light, it appears to be in slight 
relief, and the ink which was found still remaining in an inkstand, 
is a sure proof that this was the case." We must conclude, how- 
ever, from Pers. iii. 12, that the juice of the scpiawas used for this 
purpose, although the Scholiast denies it. He says. 

Tunc querimiir, crassus calamo qiiod pendeat humor, 
Nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha : 
Dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas. 

Ausonius, also (iv. 76), calls the letters notas furvce sepice, so 
that it would appear that Persius used the word in its proper signi- 



Scene III.] THE BOOKS. 327 

fication. [So Anson. Ep. yii. 54. Comp. Davy, Philos. Transactions, 
1821, pp. 191, 205.] The ancients do not appear to liave "been ac- 
quainted with, any artificial sympathetic ink, requiring a particular 
manipulation to become visible, and intended only for those 
initiated into the secret. But on the other hand, the use of some 
natural substances, such as milk, or the juice of a flax-stalk, for 
such a purpose, were not unknown to them. Hence, Ovid, Art. iii. 
627, advises, 

Tuta quoque est, fallitque oeiilos e lacte recenti 

Litera : carbonis pulvere tange: leges. 
Fallet et humiduli quae fiet acumine Hni, 
Et feret occiütas pura tabella notas. 
For more on this subject see Beckmann's Beitr. z. Gesch. d. JEr- 
ßnd. ii. 295. [Avellino describes two, very beautifully wrought, 
antique inkstands, of bronze, with rich silver mounting. They are 
round, and attached to each other, one being for black, the other 
for red ink.] 

They used, instead of the pens now employed, a reed cut like 

ours with the scalprum libraritmi (Tac. Ann. v. 8 ; Suet. Vit. 2). 

The best sort came from ^Egypt, Gnidus, and the Anaitic Lake. 

Plin. xvi. 36, 64 ; [Appul, Met. i.] ; Mart. xiv. 38, Fasces calainorum: 

Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus : 

Texantur reliqua tecta palude tibi. 

[Auson. Ep. vii. 48 : Grassetur GnidicB sidcus arundinis. Cic. ad Qu, 
Fr. ii. 15.] 

In a fresco-painting discovered at Herculaneum, there is such a 
calamus lying across an inkstand. See Mus. JBorb. i. tab. 12 ; Win- 
kelm. W. ii. tab. iii. ; Gell, Pompeiana, ii. 187. Some petrifactions of 
them have also been discovered. [^Philos. Transact. 1758, p. 620.] 
See Winkelm. as above, and Martorelli, de regia theca calamaria. 

The writing was, frequently, divided into columns, [four to six 
inches broad,] and lines, probably of red colour, mitiium, were 
ruled between them. In the Herculanean rolls these lines appear 
white, which is easily accounted for. See Winkelm. 233. The title 
of the book was placed both at the beginning and the end. 

In general, only one side of the cJwrta, or memhrana, was 
written on, and therefore Juven. i. 5, says of an inordinately long 

tragedy, 

. siimmi plena jam margine libri 
Scriptus, et in tergo, necdum finitus Orestes. 
Perhaps, however, this was caused by an excess of economy, of 
which Mart. viii. 62, may be taken as an instance : 
Scribit in aversa Picens epigrammata charta, 
Et dolet, averse quod facit ilia deo. 



328 THE BOOKS. [Excursus II. 

For trivial writing, as for instance the exercises of children, 
they used material which had already writing on one side. The 
passage in Hor. Epist. i. 20, 17, referred by Porphyrie to this, 
may evidently be miderstood in another sense, though the words 
of Martial, iv. 86, on directing his book to Apollinaris, cannot be 
misunderstood : 

Si damnaverit, ad Salariorum 

Curras scrinia protinus licebit, 

In versa pueris arande charta. 

Such Opisthographa (Plin. Epist. iii. 5), generally contained 
merely notes, memoranda, compilations, or even pieces of compo- 
sition, of which a fair copy was afterwards to be written. If the 
contents of the book were, however, of no value, they would rub 
out all the writing, and vrrite again on the same paper, which was 
then csi^Q^ palimpsestus. Cic. Fam. vii. 18. Comp. Catull. xxii. 4. 
Hence Mart. iv. 10, wished to append a sponge to his book j for 
Non possunt nostros multse, Faustine, liturae 
Emendare jocos ; una litiira potest. 

The back of the book was generally dyed, with cedrus or saffron. 

Luc. T^poQ aTraic. iii. 113 : Kal akticpUQ t([) /cpo/cr^j Kal ry Kf^^dpiij. This 
is, in Persius, iii. 10, the positis hicolor memhrana capillis, and in 
Juven. vii. 23, crocea memhrana tahellcs. Whatever is to be under- 
stood imder the term cedrus (Plin. xiii. 13, 86, lihri citrati. Comp. 
Billerb. Floi-a Class. 199), it is at least certain, that the book was 
protected against worms, and its back dyed yellow by this means. 
[Vitruv. ii. 9, 13, explains the use of the preservative very clearly : 
ex cedro oleum nascitur, quo reliquce res unctcB, uti etiam librz, a 
tineis et a carie non Iceduntur. Mart. iii. 2, cedro perimctus ; v. 
6 ; Hor. Art. Poet. 331, carmina linenda cedro. Pers. i. 42, cedro 
digna locutus.~\ Ovid. Trist, iii. 1, 13 : 

Quod neque sum cedro flavus nee pumice levis; 
Erubui domino cultior esse meo. 

When the book was filled with writing to the end, a stick or 
reed was probably fastened to its last leaf or strip, and around this 
it was coiled. [Porphj^r. ad Hor. epod. 18, 8, in ßne lihri umhiliei ex 
ligno aut osseßeri solebant.^ These reeds, which are still visible on 
the Herculanean rolls, did not project on either side beyond the 
roll, but had their extremities in the same plane as the base of the 
cylinder. They are supposed to be what the ancients called umbi- 
licus. See Winkelm. ii. 231 j Mitsch. on Hor. Epod. xiv. 8 ; and 
certainly expressions such as ad umhilicum adducere (Horace), and 
jam pervenimus usque ad umhilicos, support this supposition. The 
expression would not be an unfit one for the cavity in the centre of 



Scene III.] THE BOOKS. 329 

each disc ; but if we consider that Martial, in recounting the various 
ornaments belonging to a book, always mentions umbilici, and never 
cornua — though this latter word is always used by Tibullus and 
Ovid, for whom indeed the word umbilicus was not adapted — (see 
the passages quoted below), we must be convinced that both terms 
signify the same thing. Besides, Mart. iii. 2, calls the umbilici jncti, 
so that these cannot be merely the hollows of the tube. So Tibul- 
lus also says, pingantur cornua. The most any one can assume is, 
that the former expression has a more extended signification, and 
denotes the apertures with the knobs belonging to them ; and in 
corroboration of this Martial, v. 6, 15, may be quoted : 

Quae cedro decorata purpuraque 
Nigris pagina crevit umbilicis. 
Martial mentions the cornua only once, xi. 107, where explicitus 
usque ad sua cornua liber, is equivalent to iv. 90 : Jam pervenimus 
usque ad umbilicos. 

A small stick was passed through the tube, serving as it were 
for an axis to the cylinder, and on both of its ends, which projected 
beyond the disc, ivory, golden, or painted knobs were fastened. 
These knobs are the cornua, or umbilici. The stick itself was 
named in later Greek, KovräKwv. 

Before this, however, the bases of the roll were carefully cut, 
smoothed with pumice-stone, and dyed black. [Isid. vi. 12.] These 
are the (/etnince /rentes, in the centre of which were the umbilici 
or cornua. [Mart. i. Q7 , frons pumicata; 118, rasump%i.mice; viii. 72; 
Catull. xxii. 8.] It is worthy of remark, that generally in the 
paintings at Herculaneum and Pompeii, nothing is to be seen repre- 
senting such knobs, and that no trace of them has been discovered 
in the Herculanean manuscripts. 

In order to preserve the rolls more effectually from damage, 
they were wrapped up in parchment, which was dyed on the out- 
side with purple, or with the beautiful yellow of the lutum, lutea 
(^Genista tinctoria, Linn.). This envelope (not a cajjsa) was called 
by the Greeks simply ^KpQkpa, and by the Romans membrana. 
Martial uses for it, x. 93, purpurea toga. [iii. 2 j viii. 72, murice 
cultus ; i. 67 : 

Nee umbilicis cultus atque membrana.] 

The Greek ciTTvßai is something similar. Cic. Attic, iv. 5. Hesych. 
GiTTvßai, SepfxdrivaL aroXai. Nothing else is meant by Mart. xi. 1, 
when he says, cultus sindone non quotidiana. See the wood-cut in 
p. 332. 

Finally came the title, titulus, index, which was written on a 
narrow strip of papyrus, or parchment, in deep red colour, caecum, 



OöO THE BOOKS. [Excursus II. 

or minium [Mart. xii. 3, q^iid titidmn jjoscis. Sen. de Tranq, An. 9, 
indices. Cic. ad Att. iv. 4, 5, (xiWvßovc, see p. 331] ; but it is not 
easy to say where this ticket was placed. 

Winkelmann, 242, denies that the rolls were bound ; at least no 
trace of it was to be found on those at Herculaneum. It is true 
that Martial^ xiv. 36, says, Scrinium : 

Constrictos nisi das mihi libellos, 
Admittam tineas trucesque blattas ; 

but, not to mention that others read constructor, it is not very clear 
how the constrinf/ere could serve as a protection against the tinecs 
and Uattce. So that this one passage offers no positive proof. 
[Herzberg explains constrictos by smo.othed, and quotes Cic. de Or. 
i. 42, quce (ars) rem dissolutam conglutinaret, et constringeret ; but 
there, constringere means to glue together, not to smoothe. In Plin. 
xiii. 12, 26, constringere means merely to compress. And so in 
Mart, constrictos is not a technical expression ; but most likely 
means, that the rolls were wound round so tightly, as to prevent 
vermin from getting in, altogether, or nearly so.] The cover itself, 
or the single hook complete, was called by the Greek name to7nus. 
Mart. i. 67. 

The passages in which the ancient authors enter into a more 
detailed account of the ornaments of the books, now remain to be 
examined. In the first place, let us quote the well-known passage 
of Tibullus, iii. 1, 9 : 

Lutea sed niveum involvat membrana libellum, 

Pumex et canas tondeat ante comas : 
Summaqne prgetexat tenuis fastigia chartse, 

Indicet \\t uomen litera facta meum : 
Atque inter geminas pingantur cornua frontes; 

Sic etenim comtum mittere oportet opus. 

The author cannot renounce the supposition expressed in his 
Eleg. Rom., that it should be read tenuis charta : for since the poet 
is speaking of the index, and the book was rolled up in a membrana, 
the title could not possibly have been upon the charta itself, or the 
membrana would have concealed it. Tenuis charta would be the 
strip upon which the title was written with minium. 

The description in Ovid, Trist, i. 1, 5, is more complete : 

Nee te purpureo velent vaccinia fuco : 
Non est conveniens luctibus ille color. 

Nee titulus minio, nee cedro charta notetur, 
Candida nee nigra cornua fronte geras. 

Nee fragili geminse poliantur pumice frontes, 
Hirsutus passis ut videare comis. 



Scene III.] THE BOOKS. 331 

and that of Martial, iii. 2, 8, most compreliensiTe of all : 
Cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus, 
Et frontis gemino decens honore 
Pictis luxurieris nmbilicis ; 
Et te purpura delicata velet, 
Et cocco rubeat superbus index. 

Compare i. 67, viii. 72, [v. 6. Catull. xxii : 
. . , chartse regise, novi libri, 
Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana 
Directa plumbo et pumice omnia sequata.] 

Lastly, Lucian affords an interesting contribution, UpoQ airaioevrop^ 
111. p. 113, Tiva yap tXTrida /cot aiirog 'i)(^iov ait; ra ßiß\ia Kai ave^iTTsig 
ciel, Kai OLaKoWag, Kai TTtpiKÖirreig Kai äXeif^eig r^i KpoKip Kai ry Kscpq)^ 
Kai Si(pQkpag TrapißaWag, Kai öfX(pa\ovg IvriQeig, wg St) ri aTToXavaojv 5 
and TTfjOi tCjv kni }xlgQ<^ (tvvovtiov, sub fin., inravTig jap aKpißCog d/JiOLoi 
ti(n ToXg KaWiijToig rovroig ßißXioigy wv ■)(pvaoi fxiv 01 bi.i(pa\oiy irop- 
(pvpä 6 tKToaGev 7) Si09fpa. 

Tbe librarii were no doubt charged with thus equipping the 
hooks. Cic. Attic, iv. 4. [In the following letter, where Cicero 
writes, Bihliothecam meam tui pinxermit condructione et sillyhis, 
Herzberg conjectures constrictione. But the technical meaning of 
constringere is against this emendation. Constructio means the 
arrangement, and glueing together of both the newly-written books, 
which as yet consisted of separate strips of paper, and also of the 
old volumes that were inj ured by age or use. This was done by 
the glutinatores, mentioned in the previous letter. So that Cicero 
speaks of two things in both letters ; the constructio (or fastening 
the rolls together), and the attaching the indices^ with which is 
connected the pingere, colouring the back, the cover, etc. They 
first wrote books upon separate leaves, and afterwards glued all 
these together. Ulpian, Dig. xxxii. 1, 52 : Perscripti libri nondum 
malleati, nondum congluthiati. ] 

It became usual to have the portrait of the author painted on 
the first page. Senec. de Tranq. An. 9 ; Martial, xiv. 186 : 

Quam brevis immensum cepit membrana Maronem ! 
Ipsius vultus prima tabella gerit. 

We may also perhaps assume that the paintings in the Vatican, 
Virgil and Terence, are imitations of a more ancient, or, at least, 
ancient custom ! Pliny adduces Greek botanical works, in which 
the plants were copied, xxv. 2, 4. 

The following engraving, taken from a drawing in Gell's Pom- 
peiana, ii. 187, though not existing in any one place as a painting 
at Pompeii, may nevertheless be considered antique, as it consists 



332 



THE BOOKS. 



[Excursus II. 



of a union of all the usual implements of writing, collected from 
great number of ancient paintings in the two ruined cities. 




On the left is a circular wooden or metal case, with a lid, con- 
taining six boohs or volumes rolled up and labelled, each according 
to its contents, so as to be easily distinguished. Below this lies a 
stylus and a pentagonal inkstand, not unlike those now in common 
use. In the centre lies a pen made of reed, and thence called 
calamus. Next to the case of books is the tahcUa or tdhidce, joined 
together as with hinges, and sometimes, perhaps always, covered 
with wax. Another sort is hung up above this, where the stylus 
serves as a pin to suspend it against the wall. A sort of thick 
book of tablets, open, lies to the right of the last. In the centre 
are seen single volumes in cases, one of which is open on the left, 
and the other shut. On the right are four volumes, lying in such 
a manner as to want no explanation, two of which have their titles, 
one attached to the p«/;?/rw5 itself, and the other from the umbilicus 
or cylinder of wood in its centre. The form of the books naturally 
dictated the shape of the cases containing them ; they were cylin- 
drical or round, greater or smaller, according as they were designed 
to hold one or many rolls : generally perhaps of wood, on account 
of its lightness. Plin. xvi. 43, 84. Capsce or scnnia, is the name 
of the cases ; and when Pliny distinguishes them, he perhaps, under 
the latter term, understands the larger ones. See Böttig. Sab. i. 
p. 102. Mart. i. 3, Scrinia da magnis ; me manus una capit ; or 
because in the scrinia, only books, letters, and writings, were pre- 
served, but in the capsules, other things also. Plin. xv. 17, 18 ; 
Mart. xi. 8 ; [iv. 33 : Plena labor atis habeas cum scrinia libris. 



Scene III.] 



THE BOOKS. 



333 



Pliny, YÜ. 30, mentions Alexander's costly scrinimn.] They are 
not unfrequently to be found along with Roman statues clad in 
the toga. [Suet. Gra7nm. 9 : statua ejus ostenditur, hdbitu sedentis ac 
palliattty appositis duohus scriniis.'] When a Roman had need of 
documents in public business, his scrinium was carried after him 
by a slave, and children of quality were accompanied to school by 
a capsarius. [On a journey, books were thus carried. Catull. 
Ixviii. 33, 36: 

Nam, quod scriptorum non magna est copia apud me — 
Hue una ex multis Capsula me sequitur.] 

At other times its most natural position was beside the lectus 
in the cuhiculum. Plin. Ep. v. 5. Although custodes senmoru7n 
were kept on pm-pose, still it is not unlikely that they (scrinia) were 
sealed, especially when important documents were deposited in 
them. Martial, i. 67, 5 : 

Secreta qusere carmina et rudes curas, 
Quas novit unus, scrinioque signatas 
Custodit ipse virginis pater chartse. 



EXCUESUS III. SCENE III. 



THE BOOKSELLEES. 

\ S soon as the desire for foreign and domestic literature became 
-^^-*- general, and men of letters, or those who affected to be so, 
began to consider a library in their house indispensable, persons 
were to be found who gained their livelihood by supplying this 
want. When Cicero, ad Quint. Fr. iii. 4, writes, Be hihlioiheca tua 
Graca suppJenda^ lihris commutandis, Latinis compar andis valde 
velini ista conßci. — Sed ego mihi ipsi ista per quern acjam non Jiaheho, 
neque enini venalia sunt, quce quidem placeant, etc., we cannot sup- 
pose that any thing else is alluded to than a regular trade in books. 
He speaks also in like manner of the copies of the laws sold by the 
lihrarii, Leg. iii. 20, a lihrariis peti7nus ; publicis litei'is consignatam 
Quemoriam publicam nullam habe?nus, and mentions, Philipp, ii. 9, a 
iaberna Ubraria, in which Clodius took refuge. Under Augustus, 
we find it already becoming a distinct trade, and Horace himself 
mentions the brothers, Sbsii, by whom his poems were sold. Epist. 
i. 20, 2, ut prostes Sosiorum pumice levis. Art. Poet 345 : Hie 
meret csra liber Sosiis (viz. the book, qui miscuit utile didei.) [Under 
the first Emperors, the trade reached its highest prosperity, and 
several librarii are mentioned in old authors or inscriptions, as 
Tryphon, the publisher of Quinctilian and JMartial. Mart. iv. 72 ; 
xiii. 3 ; Quinct. Inst. .Prcef. -, and Dorus in Senec. De bene/, vii. 6.] 
These librarii at first transcribed the books themselves [whence 
their name], and no doubt kept assistants for the greater and more 
rapid multiplication of copies of them. [These scribes were some 
of them the booksellers' slaves, some freedmen, who worked for 
hire. Probably one person dictated to several at once. The Ro- 
mans of quality had also their slaves, librarii (see above), who 
copied the works of their masters or others ; so Pomponius Atticus. 
Nep. Att. 13 5 Cic. ad Att. iv. 4, 5; xii. 6; xvi. 6. He even made 
a trade of it, and kept copies of several of Cicero's works on sale. 
Cic. ad Att. xii. 12, and 44; ii. 2. The labours of the scribe were 
no doubt often lessened by dictation. Pliny (Pp. iv. 7) says that 
Pegulus had his son's life m exem2'>laria transcriptum mille.'] They 
also went by the name of bibliopoles, Mart. iv. 71, xiii. 3 ,• Poll, 
vii, 33, ßißXiujv KctTrrjXoi, ßiß\iOKä7r)]\oL ', Luc. TrpuQ äTiaid. i. 4,24. 
Their business seems mostly to have been considered merely in a 



Scene III.] THE BOOKSELLERS. 335 

mercantile point of view, whence celerity was desired rather tlian 
correctness. On this account Martial vindicates himself, ii. 8 : 

Si qua videbuntur chartis tibi, lector, in istis 

Sive obscura nimis, sive Latina pamm: 
Non meus est error ; nocuit librarius illis, 

Dum properat versus annumerare tibi. 

And for this reason authors obliged their friends by looking 
over their copies, and correcting the errors, Mart. vii. 1 1 : Cogis me 
calamo manuque nostra etnendare meos lihellos ; and Epist. 16 : 

Hos nido licet inseras vel imo, 
Septem quos tibi mittimus libellos, 
Auctoris calamo sui notatos. 
Hsec illis pretium facit litura. 

[Cic. ad Att. xvi. 6, eas ego perspiciam, corrigam, turn denique 
edentur.~\ 

In Martial's time these librarii, or bibliopolae, had their shops, 
tahernce, chiefly about the Argiletum, i. 4, 118 : but elsewhere also, 
i. 2, as in the Vicus Sandalarius^ Gell, xviii. 4 : In Sandalario forte 
apud librarios fuimus. Galen, de Uhr. suis, iv. 361 : Iv yap r^ 2aj/- 

SaXiapiip Ka9^ b Si) TrXslnra tCjv iv 'Po'jfiy ßißXLO-wXeiioj^ Icrrh', k. t. A. 

[In the Sigillariis, Gell. v. 4, ii. 3.] The titles of the books on sale 
were suspended on the doors of the shops, or if the taberna were 
under a portico, on the pillars in front of it. Thus Mart. i. 118, 
describes the place where his EpigTams were to be sold : 

Argi nempe soles subire letum : 
Contra Csesaris est forum taberna, 
Scriptis postibus hinc et inde totis, 
Omnes ut cito perlegas poetas. 

And this is what Horace, Art. Poet. 372, refers to : mcdiocribus 
esse poetis non homines, non dii, non concessere columnce; and more 
plainly. Sat. i. 4, 71, 

Nulla taberna meos habeat, neque pila libellos ; 
on which see Heindorf's remarks. Comp. Seneca, U]}. 33. [The 
shelves of the tabernse were called nidi; in these the works lay 
bound. Mart. i. 118, rasutn jnwiice yurpuraque cidtum ; viii. 61 : 

Nee umbilicis quod decorus et cedro 
Spargor per omnes Eoma quas tenet gentes.] 

The price at which the books were sold, after all, appears but 
moderate, especially when we remember that the cost of the ex- 
ternal ornaments is to be taken into account. Martial, i. 118; says, 
the bookseller (dabit) 

Rasum pumice purpuraque cultum 
Denariis tibi quinque Martialem; 



336 THE BOOKSELLERS. [Excursus III. 

and yet this first book contained 119 Epigrams, some of them tole- 
rably long. He places tie price still lower in Ep. Q7, where he 
exclaims to a plagiarius, 

Erras, meorum fur avare librorum, 

Eieri poetam posse qui piitas tanti. 

Scriptura quanti constet et tomus vilis 

Non sex paratur, aut decern soplios nummis. 

And Tryphon, he says, could actually sell the Xenia for two 
sesterces. See xiii. 3. It is true he says of his poems (ii. 1), h(sc 
una peragit librarius hora, so that perhaps the binding often cost 
more than the book. [Sidon. Apoll, v. 15.] 

In what relation the bookseller and author stood to each other, 
is not an uninteresting subject for enquiry. People are usually in- 
clined to suppose that the ancient authors wrote only for the sake 
of reputation, and did not expect any pecuniary remuneration. If, 
however, this may be considered as in general true, and especially 
in the earlier times, still there is no doubt, that in other cases, 
writers obtained a substantial gain from their works. This is not 
concluded from the pcmpertas impulit audax, ut versus facerem ; for 
at that period Horace had only published poems intended for circu- 
lation among friends, but by which he hoped to recommend himself 
to the great. See Sat. i. 4, 71. Still if Plautus, Terence, and 
others, sold their comedies to the Odiles [Gell. iii. 3 ; Juv. vii. 87,] 
it will surely not appear strange that other authors should receive 
remuneration for their labour. Thus the elder Pliny was offered 
by a private individual the sum of 400,000 sest. for his Commen- 
tarii electorum, Phn. JEp. iii. ö. This was, it is true, not the offer of 
a bookseller, but Martial frequently states, that transactions of this 
nature did take place between them, as for instance, when he 
recommends those who wished to have his poems presented or lent 
to them, to purchase them of his bookseller, iv. 71 : 

Exigis ut donem nostros tibi, Quincte, libellos: 

Non habeo, sed habet bibliopola Tryphon, 
" ^s dabo pro nugis, et emam tua carmina sanus? 
Nou, inquis, faciam tarn fatue." Nee ego. 
Comp. i. 118, where the poet very humorously declines lending 
them ; but the matter is quite clear from xi. 108, when he declares 
he will conclude the book, because he wants money : 
Quam vis tam longo pot eras satur esse libello, 

Lector, adhuc a me disticha pauca petis. 
Sed Lupus usuram, puerique diaria poscunt. 
Lector, solve, taces, dissimulasque ? Vale. 
When, therefore he elsewhere designates the business of the 
poet as a poor one, xiv. 219, nuUos referentia mimmos carmihaj 



ScE5E III.] THE BOOKSELLERS. 337 

(comp. i. 77;) tHs must be understood of the smallness of tlie pay- 
in comparison witli that of other productive occupations, [for, the 
remuneration he got for his fourteen books of Epigraais, was much 
too little to support him during the number of years he was 
■writing,] and v. 16, where he certainly says, 

At nunc conviva est comissatorque libellus, 
Et tantuni gratis pagina nostra placet. 

he only means, that those who took pleasure in his poems, did not 
reward the author, as had been the case in Virgil's time ; in the 
same way he complains, xi. 3, that he was no richer for his epigrams 
being read in Britain, Spain, and Gaul ; for nescit saceuhcs ista mens. 
This, however, does not exclude the possibility of his having, by 
some stipulation with the bookseller, derived a profit ; and it is 
inconceivable how Martial, who, according to his own account, was 
always in want of money, should have endured quietly to look on, 
while Tr}^hon, or Pollius, or Secundus, made a considerable profit 
of his poems; for we have reason to believe that his books were very 
successful. See Hor. Art. Poet. 345; Mart. xiv. 194; [xiii. -3, vi. 61, 

Meque sinus omnis, me mamis omnis habet.] 
and as regards a later period, Sulpic. Sever. Dial, i 23, who is 
quoted by Schottgen, in his rather superficial treatise De lib?'arus et 
bihliopolis antiquorum, and in Poleni, Suppl. tJies. Gr. tom. iii. fSen. 
de Ben. vii. 6, calls the publisher emptor, which shows that he ac- 
quired the copyright by purchase.] 

Some of the copies, however, found their way, in the shape of 
waste paper, into the taverns, and to the vendors of salt-fish, from 
whom the school-children obtained what they needed. See Mart, 
iv. 86, iii. 2, xiii. 1, and particularly vi. 60, 7 : 

Quam multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, 
Et redimunt soli carmina docta coqui. 

It was not in Rome and Greece only, or in the countries into 
which Greek refinement was introduced, that the literature of 
Rome was disseminated ; but also among the less civilized pro- 
vinces. Hence Horace says of a good book, trans mare curret, and 
Martial is read in Gaul, Spain, and Britain, [vii. 88, viii. 61, x. 104, 
ix. 100, xi. 3, xii. 3.] So also, Plin, Epist. ix. 11 : Bibhopolas Lug- 
duni esse non putaham, ac ianto luhentius ex Uteris tuis cognovi vendi- 
tari lihellos meos. [Sidon. Apoll. Dp. ix. 7 ; Hor. Dp. i. 20, 13. 
The booksellers' shops were fashionable lounges. Gell, xviii. 4, in 
midtomm liominum coetu, xiii. 30, v. 4. See Schmidt, Geschichte 
der Denk- und Glaubens fr eiWd im ersten Jahrhundert der Kaiser ; an 
important work.] 



EXCUESUS IV. SCENE III. 



THE LETTER. 

THE Roman of quality, wlio even at liis studies used to avail 
liimself of the hands of another to write extracts for him, still 
more generally employed a slave in his correspondence, which, 
notwithstanding all the impediments thrown in its way, by the 
want of public conveyances, appears to have been tolerably rapid. 
They had slaves or freedmen for the purpose, ah epistolis, who be- 
longed to the class of the lihrarii, and were also called ad tnanum, 
a maim, amanuenses. Orell. Inscj-. 1641. 2874. Jucundus Domitice 
Bihuli librarius ad manum. Orelli, it is true, makes the distinction ; 
Ubi^arius, idemque ad manum : but the amanuensis is called also 
librarius. Cic Attic, iv. 16: Epistolce nostrcp tantrim hahent mysterio- 
rum, ut eas ne librariis fere committamus. Plin. vii. 25 : (Csesarem) 
epistolas tantarum rerum quatefrnas painter librariis dictare ant, si 
nihil aliud ageret, septenas (accepimus). As correspondence was fre- 
quently carried on in Greek, they had also lib?-, ab epistolis Grcecis, 
(Orell. 2437), as well as ab epistolis Latinis. Id. 2997. 

Before a letter was ready to be despatched, five things were 
required, which we find mentioned all together in Plaut. Bacch. 
iv. 4, 64: 

Chb. Nunc tu abi intro, Pistoclere, ad Bacchidem, atque effer cito — 
Pi. Quid ? Chr. Stilum, ceram, et tabellas et linum. 

The ring comes afterwards. Of these, the tabellce were, like the pu- 
gillareSy or codidlli [codicillus and codex is properly plurium tabula- 
rum contextus. Sen. de Brev. Vit. 13 : Isid. vi. 13], thin tablets of 
wood (the pugillares also of ivory or citrus, Mart. xiv. 3, 5, and of 
parchment, ib. 7), and were covered over with wax, (Ovid. Art. Am. i, 
437, cera rasis infusa tahellis), in which the letters were formed with 
a stilus. [Isid. vi. 8, Ante cliartce et membranarum usum, in dolatis 
ex ligno codicellis epistolarum colloquia scribebantur. Ovid. Am. i. 12 -, 
Festus s. V.'] They naturally varied in size. For elegant love- 
letters, very small tablets were used, which bore a name of doubt- 
ful signification, — Vitelliani. Mart. xiv. 8 and 9, Vitelliani. 

Quod minimos cernis, mitti nos credis amicae. 
[Schol. ad Juv. ix. 36.] Of this description are the tabellce which 
Amor brings to Polyphemus in an antique painting. Still, letters 
were also written on papyrus. Cic. Fain. vii. 18 [^ad Qu.fr. ii. 15 j 



Scene TFT.] THE LETTER. 339 

Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 9, 3], and Mart. xiv. 11, with tlie Lemma, Chartce 
epistolares : 

Seu leviter noto, seu caro missa sodali, 
Omnes ista solet charta vocare suos. 

As tlie smooth surfaces thus covered with wax could not be allowed 
to rest upon one another, and by inserting a board between them, 
the writing would have been obliterated by the pressure, we must 
suppose that the tablets had a somewhat elevated border. This 
supposition gains probability from an antique painting in Mus. Borh. 
vi. t. 35, in which a girl is holding the stilus and the pugillares, the 
two tablets of which clearly exhibit such an elevated border. So 
also in Gell's Pomp. ii. 187. 

The letter being ended, the tabellae were bound together by a 
linen thread, or more correctly, a fine pack-thread, probably cross- 
ways, and where the string was fastened, were sealed with wax, (see 
concerning this and the sealing earth, creMa, Cic. Verr. iv. 9 ; Beck- 
mann, Beitr.z. Gesch. d. Erßnd. i. 474), and stamped with the ring. 
Plaut. Bacch. 4, 96 : 

Cedo tu ceram ac linum actutum, age obliga, obsigna cito. 

Cic. Catil. iii. 5 : Ac ne longum sit, Qiiirites, tahellas proferrijussi- 
mus, qucs a quoque dicehantur datce. Primum ostendimus Cethego sig- 
nmn : cognovit. N^us liman incidimus : legimus. Erat scriptum ipsius 
manu. If the letter were written by the lihrarius, this seal afforded 
the only guarantee of its genuineness, for which reason the seal was 
generally examined, previous to opening the letter, and before it 
was injured by cutting the string asunder. We should almost sup- 
pose that the handwriting, being on wax, and in imcial character, 
muet have been difficult to recognise, and yet the proof of the 
letter's authenticity is often taken from this. Plautus himself says 
(Bacch. V. 78) : nam propterea te volo scrihere, nt pater cognoscat 
literas quando legat. So Cicero in the passage quoted above, and 
frequently. Comp. Ovid, Hei'oid. xv. 1 ; Sabin. Ep. i. 3. [The 
address was, of course, written on the outside. In a fresco at 
Pompeii, there is a letter addressed M. Lucretio.'] 

As the advantage of public posts was not known they were 
obliged to dispatch special messengers, unless an opportunity by 
chance occurred, and frequently to veiy remote places : tabellarii 
kept for this purpose, therefore, were the regular letter-carriers of 
private persons and are often mentioned. See. Cic. Phil. ii. 31 ; 
Fam. xii. 12, xiv. 22 ; Verr. iii. 79 ; Auct. hell. Hisp. 12, 16, 18. [It 
remains to be observed that the above tabellae were used as writing- 
materials generally j and not merely for correspondence. So the 

z 2 



340 THE LETTER. [Excursus IV. 

scliool tablets, and tlie tahdcs testamenti (also called ceres). Hein- 
dorf and Wüstemann ad Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 54. Small tablets ( imgil- 
laresj codicilU) were used as pocket books to note down anything at 
will. Auson. Epigr. 146, bipatens pugillai\ Sen. Ep. 108, Accord- 
ing to the number of leaves, tbey were called diptychi, triptychi, or 
triplices. Martial xix. 6. The outer side was often ornamented with 
ivory, gold, or silver. Orell. Inscr. 3838, jjuyillares meinhi-anaceus 
cum operculis ehoreis. Vop. Tac. 8. A stile (stilus grapliium) was 
attached, (Isid. vi. 9; Martial xiv. 21), the one end of which was 
pointed for writing, the other blunt for erasure. Hence siilum ver- 
ier e. Hor. Sat. i. 10, 72; Cic. Verr. iv. 41. In the days of the 
emperors, the consuls, praetors, and other magistrates, used, upon 
taking office, to present their friends with very costly tablets, 
adorned with the portrait of the donor, and all sorts of symbo- 
lical devices. Symmach. Ep. ii. 81, v. 56, vii.76, ix. 119; Claud. 
in Stilich. iii. 346. 

Qui (sc. dentes) seeti ferro in tabiilas auroque micantes, 
Inscripti riitiliim cselato Consuls nomen 
Per proceres et vulgus eant. 

Sirmond. ad Sidon. Ap. Ep. viii. 6. Several of these ivory diptychi 
are preserved ; only one of the commoner wax- tablets, dating from 
167 A. D., which was found in 1790, in Transylvania. It is made of 
fir-wood with writing on four sides.] 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE IV. 



THE LECTICA AND THE CAKKIAOES. 

WITH tlie great love of comfort tliat distinguislied the upper 
ranks of the Roman world in later times, we may easily 
imagine that sufficient provision was made for the means of loco- 
motion unaccomp*anied by any exertion on their own part. We 
should form a very erroneous conception if we fancied that the 
Romans did not possess, as well as the moderns, their travelling, 
state, and hackney equipages : on the contrary, the means of con- 
veyance in their times, though not so regularly organised as our 
stage-coaches and omnibuses, nor so generally used by all classes, 
were even more numerous, and, to a certain extent, better calcu- 
lated for the purpose they were intended to answer, although this 
was intimately connected with the (to us unknown) system of slaves, 
and also depended on conditions of climate. 

These subjects have been often and circumstantially treated of, 
and but little of importance remains to be added, so that we shall 
rather seek to select and properly apply the more essential points 
of what has already been made known. The most important 
writings are : SchefFeri, De re vehiculari veterum, lib. ii. in Poleni 
thes. t. v., to which is appended. De vehiculis antiquis diatribe ; Beck- 
mann, Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Drßnd. i. 390 ; and Ginzrot, Die Wägen und 
Fahrwerke der Griechen und Römer und and. alt. Volk. 2 vols. 4 ; 
a work which has the advantage of being written by a connoisseur 
in these matters, though as a philologist he is by no means all we 
could wish. Concerning the lectica in particular, see Lipsius, Elect. 
i. 19 ; Alstorph. De lecticis veterum, diatribe, with the Dissert, de 
lectis. 

The Lectica. — We have here to discuss only that description 
which was used for j oumeys, or for being carried about in, within 
the city : concerning the lectica funebris, see the Excursus on The 
Burial of the Dead. This lectica was probably like the common 
lectus in its chief points — at all events in its earlier form — except 
that it had no pluteus. It was a frame made, for the sake of light- 
ness, of wood, and with girths across it, upon which the mattress, 
torus, and probably at the head a cushion, pulmnar, were placed. 
The use of girths is very intelligible, although the passages in 
Martial (ii. 57) and Gellius (x. 3), which have been adduced as 
proving their use, may be considered to allude to something quite 



342 THE LECTICA AND THE CARRIAGES. [Excursus I. 

different. It is generally supposed that the lecticae were, in more 
ancient times, uncovered (See Boettig. Sah. ii. 179, 200), although 
there appears not any ground for this opinion, as the copy of a 
lectica, which ScheiFer after Pighius gives from a tomh, must rather 
pass for a lectus funebris, such as have been discovered on other 
monuments, worked in relief. See Goro, v. Agyagf. Wand. d. 
Po7np. tab. vi. -, Ginzrot, tab. Ixvii. What Boettiger after Gruter 
has given as a lectica, with a figure reposing on it, (ibid. Fig. 3), is 
as unlike as possible. When mention is sometimes made of lecticcs 
aperies, this may be understood in a diiFerent sense. 

If, as is most probable, such palanquins were introduced from 
the East, it is also to be supposed that they were adopted in Kome 
in the form usual there, and were therefore covered. Such lecticEe 
opertse are mentioned in Cicero's time, and even earlier. Cic. 
Phil. ii. 45 : Cum inde JRomam proßciscens ad Acquinum accederet^ 
ohviam ei processit magna sane TnuUitudo ; at iste operta lectica latus 
est per oppidum ut mortuus. We must take care not to infer from 
the last words, the usage of a lectica operta at funerals. When a 
corpse was conveyed from one place to another, a closely covered 
vehicle was no doubt made use of. Of this kind was that of C. Grac- 
chus, mentioned in Gell. x. 3, otherwise the peasant could not have 
asked, num mortuwn fervent. Cicero himself was in a covered lectica 
when he was overtaken by his murderers. Plut. Cic. 48. 'Etr^ay/; 
hi. Tov rpaxv^ov Ik tdv (poptiov irpoTtiraQ ; Aufid. Bass, ap. M. Sen. 
Sttas. i. 6 : Cicero paidlum remoto velo postquarti armatos vidit, etc. 

The lectica had a head and curtains, (lectica tuta pelle veloque), 
as Martial calls it, xi. 98 ; for pellis is the head of leather. An 
instance, from the same period, where a proscribed person was 
saved by his slave placing himself inside, whilst the master acted 
the part of kcticarius, is related by Dio Cass, xlvii. 10. (poptiov 
KctrdnTeyov. When therefore lecticse apertae are mentioned, as Cic. 
Phil. ii. 24, Vehehatur in essedo tribufius plehis ; lictores la2ireati ante- 
eedebant, inter quos aperta lectica mi'ma portabatur, we must not 
understand thereby a completely uncovered lectica, which was least 
of all suitable for a long journey, especially for a Cytheris, but that 
the curtains were drawn back and fastened up. These curtains, vela, 
were also called plag<2 or plagulm. Non. iv. 361. ; xir. 5 ; Suet. 
Fit. 10 ; cum inde lectica atiferretur, suspexisse dicitur dimotis pla- 
f/zdis ccelum. In later times they did not content themselves with 
curtains, but closed up the whole lectica with lapis specidaris, not 
only for the use of the women, but also of the men. Juven. iii. 239 : 

Si Yocat officium, turba cedente vehetur 
Dives, et ingenti curret super ora Liburno, 



Scene IV.] THE LECTICA AIS'D THE CAEEIAGES. 343 

Atque obiter leget aut seribet vel dormiet intus, 
Namque facit somnum clausa lectica fenestra. 
iv. 20: 

Est ratio ulterior, magnse si misit amiese, 
Quae vehitur clauso latis specularibus antro. 

So also we read of tlie hasterna, to be mentioned presently. AntJioL 
Lat. iii. 183 ; radians patulum gestat utrinque latus : effeminacy 
procured more easy pillows, and had them stuffed witli feathers. 
Juv. i. 159 : 

Qui dedit ergo tribus patruis aconita, vehatur 
Pensilibus plumis, atque illinc despiciat nos ? 

An instance of still more refined luxury is to be found in Cic. Verr. 
V. 11 : we subjoin the whole of this remarkable passage : Nam, ut 
mosfuit Bitliynice regihus, lectica octophoro ferehatur, in qua pulvi- 
nus erat perlucidus Melitensi 7'osafartus. Ipse aidetn coronam hahe- 
hat unani in capite, alteram i?i collo, reticidumque ad nares sibi admo- 
vebat tenuissifuo lino minutis maculis, plenum 7'oscs. Sic confecto 
itinere cum ad aliquod oppidum venisset, eadem lectica usque in cuhicu- 
lum deferehatur. [The pulvinus is also mentioned by Senec. ad 
Marc. 16.] It may easily be inferred that there was no lack of 
ornament, costly wood, decorations of silver, gold and ivory and 
splendid coverlets. 

The poles on which the lectica was carried, asseres, do not ap- 
pear (at least in all cases) to have been fastened to it. Whether it 
had iron rings, as Ginzrot {21i. ii. 278) has assumed, we leave un- 
determined. What Mart. ii. 57, says, Recens cella linteisque lorisque, 
appears to refer to this : also the struppi in Gell. x. 3 : which as- 
sumption accords very well with the explanation of the word in 
Isid. Orig. xix. 4. It is at any rate clear that the asseres were 
moveable, from Suet. Cal. 58 : Ad primum tunndtum lecticarii cum 
asseribus in auxilium adcurrerunt ; and that by this we are to under- 
stand the carrying-poles, may be gathered from the other passages 
where they are mentioned. Juv. vii. 132 : 

Perque forum juvenes longo premit assere Medos ; 
comp. iii. 245 ; Mart. ix. 23, 9 : 

Ut Canusinatus nostro Syrus assere sudet, 
Et mea sit culto sella diente frequens. 

Different from the lectica, and belonging to a later period, was the 
sella gestatoria. According to Dio Cassius, Claudius was the first 
who made use of it (Ix. 2) : Kal h'cVtoi kuI dippc^ KUTaareyoj TrpioTog 
'Pwfiaiwv sxpvjcfaroj Kal l^ kKsivov Kai vvv ovx on oi avTOKpuTopeg äX\ä 
Kai rjixeig oi virarevKÖTsg dirppocpopovfieOa' Trporepov Oe apa Ö re Avyov- 
CTog Kai ö Tißepioc, äWoL re TLveg kv (TKifiTToSioig oTToioig a'i yvvalKfg tTi 



344 THE LECTICA AI^D THE CAHRIAGES. [Excursus I. 

Kai vvv vojxi'Covaiv eariv ore i(ptpovro. But this account appears very 
extraordinary, if we reflect that Suetonius says of Augustus, 53 : In 
consulatu pedibus fere, extra consulatum scepe adoperta sella per 
publicum incessit, and that Dio Cassius himself frequently mentions, 
at an early period, the ^idpoq KaräanyoQ -, xlvii. 23, Ivi. 43. It is 
only explicable from a gross inaccuracy in the use of the two ex- 
pressions, as the interchange of them is to be found elsewhere. 
Thus Martial (iv. 51) says : 

Cum tibi non essent sex millia, Cseciliane, 
Ingenti late vectiis es hexaphoro. 

Postquam bis deeies tribuit dea cseca, sinuinque 
Kiiperunt minimi, factus es, ecce, pedes. 

Quid tibi pro meritis et tantis laudibus optem ? 
Di reddant sellam, Caeciliane, tibi. 
But the ingcns hexaphoron can only be understood of a lectica, 
which is called afterwards sella ; though it is evident from the in- 
terdiction of the emperor Claudius, (Suet. CI. 35), that they were 
different : Viatores ne per ItalicB oppida^ nisi aid pedibus, aut sella, 
aut lectica transirent, monuit edicto; and Martial distinguishes them 
thus (xi. 98) : 

Lectica nee te tuta pelle veloque. 
Nee vindicabit seile saepius clausa. 
and X. 10 : Lecticam sellamve sequar ? [Suet. Dom. 2 : sellam ejus 
ac frati'is, quotics prodircnt, lectica sequehatur. Sen. de Brev. Vit. 
12.] As the lectica was a litter, so was the sella a sedan, which was 
mostly covered, but it might also be a common uncovered easy 
chair ; at least we so understand, when Ctelius Aurelianus, i. 5, 
(quoted by Scheffer), opposes the cathedra to the sella fertoria, (also 
portatorid). [The elder Pliny always used such a one in Rome. 
Plin. Up. iii. 5 ; Lampr. Heliog. 4.] 

The lecticcB were borne by fewer or more slaves, according as 
they varied in size. An ingois lectica required six or eight lecti- 
cavil, and was called liexapliormi, or octophoron, (Juv. i. 64), sexta 
cervice ferri. We have already discussed these bearers in the 
account of The Slaves ; for persons of rank and wealth kept for 
this purpose their own slaves, [Ulp. I)ig. xxxii. 1, 49,] who were 
clad in a distinct red livery, CanusincB rufce, canusinati. See Bott. 
Sab. ii. 206. In Martial's time this dress appears to have been 
customary; but Nero also drove Camisinatis muli&nihus. Suet. 
JVer. 30. Those who could not afford this, might obtain on hire 
abundance of litters, which stood ready at a certain spot, Castra lee- 
ticariorum, in the fourteenth region trans Tiberim, and no doubt 
elsewhere also. See P. Victor. Be reg. Urb. in Grcsv. thes. iii. 49, 
and Onuphr. Panv. Descr. Urb. Rom. 312 ; Juv. vi. 352. 



ScEXE IV.] THE LECTICA AND THE CARRIAGES. 345 

Tlie question as to when tlie lectica came into fasliion in Rome, 
is best answered with Lipsius, — most probably after the victory 
over Antiochus, when this, along with the other Asiatic luxuries, 
became known to the Romans. No mention is made of it earlier, 
and Lipsius infers from Plautus' silence, (especially Aul. iii. 5, 
where the requirements of the ladies are enumerated, and midi, 
muliones, vehicula are mentioned, while lectica is omitted), that in 
his time it had not come into use. It is also a question whether 
this scene (Aul.) entirely belongs to the poet, and whether, at the 
renewed representation of the piece, just as in Epid. ii. 2, several 
new fashions were not introduced ; for in that case, the ignorance 
of the lectica might be extended also to the succeeding period, to 
which the additions to the play would belong. The lectica does 
not appear to be mentioned earlier than in the fragment of C. 
Gracchus, in Gell. x. 3, but in Cicero's time it was common, though 
the use of it was confined to the coimtry and journeys, and woman 
and invalids (Dio Cass. Ivii. 17. Suet. Tih. 30. Cal. 27) alone used 
it in the city. By degrees, however, men also began to use it in the 
city ; and what originally served merely as a distinction for certain 
individuals, became (Suet. Claud. 28, C(2S. 43. Lecticanan tisum 
nisi certis personis et cstatihiis perque ceHos dies ademit. Dom, 8) a 
general custom under the succeeding emperors. 

Within the city, the use of carriages was even more restricted 
than that of the lectica, and the women who had obtained this 
privilege from the senate, by sacrificing their golden ornaments, 
were confined, in exercising it, to particular festive occasions, sacra 
liidi, dies fest i, etprofesti, Liv. v. 25, and were nearly losing it again 
in consequence of the second Pimic war ; for the le.v Opjna, which 
was sanctioned through the exigences of the times, laid down, Ke 
qua mulier p)lus semiimciam auri haheret, neu vestimento versicolori 
utereter, neujimcto vehiculo in urhe oppidove, aut proprius hide mille 
passus nisi sacrorum publicorum causa veheretur. Liv. xxxiv. 1. 
The dies festi and profesti, therefore, were excluded. See Cato's 
speech, c. 3. This strict sumptuary law must have the more 
annoyed the Roman women, because those of the allies did not 
suffer any such restriction; it was, liowe\'er, rescinded twenty years 
after, and from that period perhaps a greater licence by degrees 
crept in. [Driving in the city was forbidden ; except for triumpha- 
tors, higher magistrates, and priests on solemn occasions. Liv. xlv. 
1 ; Tac. Ann. i, 1 5 ; Plin. Pan. 92 ; Juv. x. 36. Claudius and later 
emperors interdicted it afresh. Suet. Claud. 25; Cap. Ant. Phil. 
23 ; Vop. Aurel. 5. This explains why there were so few stables 
and coach-houses in Pompeii, It is plain, however, that the inter- 



346 THE LECTICA AND THE CARRIAGES. [Excursus I. 

diet was not strictly enforced from Seneca, Ep. 56 : In iis quce me 
sine avocatione circumstrepunt essedas transcurrentes pono et fabrum 
inquilinum et serrarmm vicitium, aut hunc, qui ad metam sudantem 
tabulas experitur et tihias ; where the meta siidans, near which 
Seneca's house lay, shows that he speaks generally, and not of 
Baiae, hut of Eome. So in Juv. iii. 237, rhedarum transitus arcto 
vicorum in ßexu is assigned as one of the many causes why one 
could not sleep in Eome. Wains and carts might pass early in 
the morning ; later in the day this was not allowed, on account of 
the traffic in the streets. Spart. Hadr. 22 ; Plin. Pan. 51, — Plut. 
qu. Rom. 68, is not to the purpose.] 

The use of carriages on a journey was more frequent, and no 
small number of names occur, though they give us hut little insight 
into the peculiar nature of the different vehicles. The carriages 
found on monuments are much more frequently such as were 
adapted for festive processions, games or war, than for private use, 
or for a journey. It is only in the main points, and in the manner 
of usage, that we are enabled to show how they differed from one 
another'; any attempt at fixing their form more accurately, must 
always be a matter of conjecture. 

We divide carriages into those having two and four wheels. To 
the first class belongs the Cisium [Non. ii. 139, explains it vehiculi 
hiroti genus], probably a light uncovered cabriolet, used for quick 
journeys. The passages in Cicero are known. Phil. ii. 31, Inde 
cisio celeriter ad urbein advectus domum venit capite involuto. Rose. 
Am. 7, decern horis nocturnis sex et quhiquaginta millia passmtm cisiis 
pervolavit. Hence also in the lampoon on Ventidius Bassus, Catalect. 
Virg. viii. 3, Volantis impetus cisii. It was no doubt drawn by two 
horses, or mules, although Auson. viii. 6, calls it a trijuge. 

The Essedum, properly a British or Belgic war-car, had also two 
wheels: see Ruperti adJuven. iv. 126, [Caes. Rell. Gall.ix.SS: Virg. 
Georg, iii. 204 : 

Belgica vel molli melius feret esseda cello. 
Prop. ii. 1,86: 

Esseda eselatis siste Brit-anna jugis.] 

but as early as Cicero's time was in frequent use for journeys, 
Attic, vi. 1 : Vedius venit mihi obviam cum duobus esscdis et rheda 
equis juncta et lectica et familia magna. He had just before 
termed the man a magnus nebido, and afterwards calculates 
what he would have to pay, if Curio's proposed law were to 
pass. Also Phil. ii. 24. It was a small carriage, not essentially 
differing from the cisium, and was also used especially for a 



Scene IV.J THE LECTICA AIS'D THE CAEEIAGES. 347 

journey. Hence Ovid says, when lie invites Corinna to come 
to Sulmo (Amor. ii. 16, 49) : 

Parvaque quam primum rapientibus esseda mannis 
Ipsa per admissas concute lora jubas. 

And Martial to his hook, which Flaccus was to take with him to 
Spain (x. 104) : 

Altam Bilbilin et tuum Salonem 

Quinto forsitan essedo videbis. 

We perceive from the coins stamped in honour of Julia and 
Agrippina, that the Carpetitum also was two-wheeled. See Sueton. 
Cal. 15. This vehicle is mentioned in the oldest times of Rome, 
Liv. i. 34, 48 j v. 25, [Ov. Fad. i. 619 : 

Nam prius Ausonias matres carpenta vehebant : 
Hsec quoque ob Evandri dicta parente reor.] 

although it certainly had not then the form in which it appears on 
these coins, and, according to the first passage referred to in Livy, 
could not at that time have had a cover. We must not always 
interpret the name strictly, and fashion appears to have effected 
great changes in the form of the carriages. Generally, we may 
assume of the later carpentum, that it was a covered state-carriage, 
[hence also used at public festivals, and called carpmünn pompati- 
cum, Isid. XX. 12 ; Suet. Cal. 15 5 Claud. 11,] though it was also 
used for travelling. Prop. iv. 8, 23; where it means a state- 
equipage, with silk curtains. Comp. Juven. viii. 147 ; ix. 132. 

The Pilentmn differed from it, as we see from Livy, v. 25 : 
Iwnoremqtie oh earn munißcentiam ferunt matronishabitum,ut pilento 
ad sacra ludosque, carpentis festo profeatoque uterentur. And they 
are opposed to each other hi Trebell. Foil. xxx. tyr. 29, and 
Lamprid. Heliog. 4. But whether the difference consisted in the 
carpentum being a close carriage, and the pilmtum merely having 
a head on four supporters, will hardly admit of sure demonstration. 
[The real difference was rather this, that the pilentum had four 
wheels, as Isidor. xx. 12, expressly states. Several authors assert 
that this carriage was especially used by women. Serv. ad Virg. 
^n. vi. 666 : 

castse dueebant sacra per urbem 

Püentis matres in mollibus. 

Festus. s. V. Prud. c. Symm. ii. 1088.] 

The Covimis was properly a Belgic carriage, armed with scythes, 
the shape of which Ginzrot seems to have given correctly, (Plate 
XXV. 1) ; [Lucan. i. 426 : 

Et doeihs rector constrati Belga covini.] 
but there were also conveyances at Rome, bearing the same name. 



348 THE LECTICA AND THE CARRIAGES. [Excursus I. 

and possibly like our cars, perfectly closed on three sides, and only 
open in front. There was no seat for the mtdio, but the person 
sitting in the carriage drove the horses or mules himself^ as we see 
from a neat epigram in Martial, xii. 24 : 

jucunda, covine, solitude, 

Carruca magis essedoque gratum 

Facimdi mihi munus ^liani : 

Hie mecum licet, hie, Juvence, quidquid 

In buccam tibi venerit, loquaris. — 

Nusquam mulio ; mannuli taeebunt, etc. 

The description of its form, given above, is rightly inferred by the 
poet's praise of its retirement and privacy. 

Of the larger carriages with four wheels, the Bheda, or reda, is 
first to be mentioned. See Boettig. Sah. ii. 41. [Isid. xx. 12, qua~ 
tuor rotarum. In Cod. Th. viii. 5, 8, the rheda is opposed to the 
hirota.'] Like the cisium, the essedu?n, and the covinus, it is said to 
have been of foreign oiigin ; [Quinct. i. 5, 57 ;] but that is of little 
consequence, as the Romans no doubt made it according to their 
own ideas, and it perhaps denotes the travelling-carriage generally. 
In such a rheda Clodius met Milo, (Cic. 3Iil. 10, 20), and it appears 
to have been the carriage in general use when a man travelled 
with his family and baggage. We see from Juv. iii. 10, that it was 
arranged for this last-mentioned purpose, dum tota domus rheda 
componitur mia ; and Mart. iii. 47, where Bassus travels into the 
country, plena in rheda, omnes heati copias trahens ruris. It was 
mostly covered, as was necessary for a long journey. That there 
were rhedo} with two wheels, does not appear clear, as they would 
then no longer deserve the name. 

To the same class belongs the Carruca, which was perhaps only 
shorter and more elegant. The name does not appear to have 
been adopted till late, and Martial confounds it with the rheda, 
(iii. 47), where we first read, plena Bassus that in rheda, and then 
nee otiosus ibat ante carrucam, sed tuta foeno cursor ova portahat. 
[It was used as a stage coach. Cod. xi. 19. But earlier, it was 
used also for travelling ; by Nero for example. Suet. Ner. 30. 
Lamprid. Heliog. 31. It was constructed even for sleeping in ; 
Scsev. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 13, carruca dormitoria. Pauli. Rec. Sent. iii. 6, 
91 ; Ulp. Dig. xxi. 8, 38, mula carrucaria. The last passages show 
that it was generally drawn by mules.] 

The PetorriUnn also belongs to this class, according to Festus 
[Quinct. i. 5, 57,] and Gellius, of Gallic origin, as was the name, 
ju'torritum est 7ion ex GrcBCO dimidiotum, sed totum transalpibxs ; 
nam est vox Gallica. Gell. xv. 30. Heindorf, ad Korat. Sat. i. Q, 



Scene IV.] THE LECTICA AND THE CARRIAGES. 349 

103, mentions that in tlie Celtic lexicon of Bullet is to be found 
petoar, or pedwar (four), and rit (rad) wheel. According to Schol. 
Cruq. ad Hor. Epist. ii. 1, 192, it was a carriage for the servants, 
pilenta vehicida matronarum, sicut petorrita famularum ; and this 
agrees very well with the first passage, {Snt. i. 6, 103), |y/?/res 
calones atque cahalli pascetidi, ducenda petorrita ; but we must not 
affirm that they were used exclusively for this purpose. 

The Basterna was something between the carriage and the lec- 
tica, a litter borne by two mules, one before and one behind, going 
in shafts. [Isid. xx. 12 ; Schol. ad Juv. iv. 21 j Anthol. Lat. iii. 183. 

Aurea matronas claudit basterna pudicas.] 

See concerning it, Salm. ad Lamprid. Heliog. 21. 

The 'ornaments of the vehicles [especially of the body, capsus, 
or 2)loxe?wm, a Gallic expression. Fest. p. 280 ; Isid. ib. ; Quinct. i. 
o, 8 ; Vitruv. x. 14] were all in keeping with the luxury displayed 
in other matters. Pliny (xxxiv. 17) declaims against this extrava- 
gance : Ccepere deinde et esseda, et vehicida, et petorrita exornare^ 
simüique modo ad aurea quoque, non modo argentea staticula inanis 
luxuria pervenit, qucsqiie in scyphis cerni j^^'odit/ium erat, hcec in 
vehicidis atteri cultus vocatur. [xxxiii. 49, carrucas ex argento cce- 
lare.'] Such carriages were sometimes of immense value, as Mart, 
iii. 72, relates : 

Aurea quod fundi pretio carruca paratur, 

Claudius, as Censor, considered it right to do away with such an 
article of luxury. Suet. Claud. 16 : essedum argenteum sumtuose 
fahricatum ac venule ad Sigillaria redimi concidique coram imperavit. 
[Vop. Aurel. 46; Paul. Dig. xxxiii. 10, 5.] Among the Etrurians 
it was customary to ornament the carriages with plates of embossed 
metal, as bronze, (see Inghirami, Monum. Etruschi, iii. 18, 23), or 
of silver, (see Millingen, I ned. Monum. ii. 14.) Probably the esse- 
dum argenteum was ornamented in the same manner. 

Their manner of connecting the animals with the carriage was 
quite different from ours, as these did not draw by means of traces, 
but by a yoke fastened to the front of the pole, and lying on their 
necks. This yoke was very various in form, being often only a 
simple wooden bow, but generally having two rounded hollows, into 
which the neck fitted. See the illustration in Ginzrot, i. tab. iii. b. 
— iv. b. If the carriage were drawn only by one horse or mule, it 
went in shafts, though even then a yoke was placed on it. It was 
only when three or four animals were employed, that the outside 
ones drew with traces, and they were then called /«maZes. [The Ho- 
meric TTapi'iopoi. Dion. Hal. vii. 73.] Suet. Tib. vi. : Actiaco triumplio 



350 THE LECTlCA AIS^D THE CARRIAGES. [Excursus I. 

currum Angusti comitatus est, s mister iore funali equo,cum Marcellus 
Octavice ßlms dexteriore veheretur. [Auson. Epith. 35, 9 : 

Pegasus hie dexter currat tibi : Isevus Arion 
Fimalis, quartum det tibi Castor eqmim.] 

Sometimes horses, at others mules, were used as beasts of bur- 
den. Of the former, the small Gallic race (manni, mannuli, and 
hurricM) was especially esteemed, on account of their speed, (Salm. 
ad Vopisc. Carin. 20 ; Schol. Cruq. ad Hor. Epod. iv. 14. See 
Mitscherl. ad Hor. supra). It is evident that these manni were an 
article of luxury, and the possession of them indicated a man of 
wealth, from the indignant words, Sectusßagellis hie triumviralihus 
Prceeonis adfastidium Arat Falerni mille fitndijugera, Et Appiam 
'niannis terit. 

The Romans did not always drive their own equipages ; for in 
Rome, and also in the smaller toAvns of Italy, there were numbers 
of hack carriages, and there are many allusions from which we may 
conclude, that on the greater roads there were stations where they 
changed carriage and horses. Scheffer has already drawn attention 
to the fact, that in the passage of Cicero, pro Rose. Am. 7, decern 
horis noctiirnis LVI viillia passman cisiis pervolavit, the plural, cisiis, 
implies a change of carriages ; and it is only in this sense that we 
can understand what Suetonius says of Caesar, (57) : Langissitnas 
vias incredihili celeritate confecit, expeditus meritoria rheda, cetdena 
passuum millia in singulos dies; for how could this have been 
effected with the same horses ? So Mart, x. 104, seqq., 

Hispanse pete Tarraconis arces. 

Illinc te rota toilet, at citatus 

Altam Bilbihn et tuum Salonem 

Quinto forsitan essedo videbis. 
is also to be taken. 

Five days' journey may certainly be meant, but with a change 
of carriages, a fresh vetturino being most likely hired at different 
points of the journe3^ It was in such rheda3 that Horace performed 
a part of his journey in the company of Msecenas. 



EXCUESUS II. SCENE IV. 



THE INNS. 

Fthe present day, when a traveller of the rank of Gallus 
arrives at a good sized town, more than one hotel presents 
itself where obsequious waiters are ready to receive his carriage, 
and elegantly furnished apartments are at his disposal, — nothing 
in short is omitted for his entertainment : and even in the smaller 
towns the same rule applies. Matters, were, however, quite different 
among the ancients generally, and in Italy also. When there is no 
call for any particular branch of industry, no necessity for its culti- 
vation is felt ; and it is evident that the number and accommoda- 
tions of the inns of modern times have been considerably improved 
by the increased propensity for travelling. The ancients, however, 
were quite imused to the frequent arrival and departure of large 
numbers of strangers, and when they did travel, had everj^where 
(especially if Roman citizens) private connexions enough, to be 
relieved from the necessity of stopping at an inn. 

Hence all establishments of this nature were on an exceedingly 
low scale, and, properly speaking, only public houses for the lower 
classes, to whom, naturally, a friend's house was not always open. 
But we should be going too far in supposing that respectable people 
also did not, under particular circumstances, make use of such 
establishments. Zell, in his essay. Die Wirthshauser d. Alten, gives 
by far too low a character of the Roman inns. Indeed, he has only 
depicted one side of the tavern life, and spoken merely of the 
cavponce ^-^^popince in Rome itseK; whereas, in order to become 
acquainted with the use the Romans made of the inns, we ought 
not so much to consider those in Rome, as those to be met with on 
a journey. It is easily conceivable that the Roman of distinction 
did not spend his evening at places of public entertainment as we 
do ; that there were no clubs or concerts, &c., and that he would 
never dream of lounging about in cook-shops and wine-taverns, 
places in as little estimation at Rome as at Athens, where Socrates 
used to boast of himself : quod imnquam in taheimam conspexerat. 
Petr. 140. And yet as public life fell into decay, and people be- 
came less and less interested in state matters, and rather avoided 
than sought the Forum, the more polite classes had also places, 
where they could pass their idle hours, though certainly these were 
quite different from popinae. We must, however, first consider 



O r. 



52 THE IXNS. [Excursus II. 

those inns whicli presented themselves to the traveller on the high 
road. 

Of course even those most extensively connected could not 
meet with the houses of acquaintances on every high road to stop 
at, and therefore were sometimes obliged to go to houses of public 
entertainment. We need not adduce in particular the well-known 
passage relating to Greece, in Cicero, Div. i. 27 : Cum duo quidam 
Arcades familiäres iter una facer etit et Me garem venissent, aUe?'um 
ad caupone7n devertisse, adhospitem alterum ; or the very interesting 
account of a murder at an inn, in Cic. Inv. ii. 4, for we are not 
acquainted with the rank of the persons alluded to, nor do we re- 
quire, in the consideration of Roman life, to draw analogies from 
Greece. Let us only follow the route of Horace, in the train of 
Maecenas, to Brundusium, which he so humorously describes, (^Sat. i. 
5), and we shall find him putting up at inns more than once. The 
lines of the commencement, 

Egressum magna me excepit Aricia Eoma 
Hospitiö modico, 
may be thus understood, for he who stopped at the house of a caupo 
was also called by this word hosjjcs, and neither a state-entertainer 
nor a private friend is meant, for Horace would have mentioned 
these more particularly ; and, besides, hospitio modico would have 
been no great compliment. See Plaut. Pcen. iii. 3, 60, and v. 75, 
80. It was doubtless a caupona also in Forum Appii at which Horace 
could eat nothing, on account of the badness of the water, although 
his companions were less particular. When he says of the next 
morning after the night-voyage, Millia turn 2oransi tria repimus, a 
breakfast in a taherna is probably alluded to, which might have 
been either in the vicinity of the temple of Feronia, or further 
on. Matters doubtless assumed a difierent aspect after he joined 
Maecenas, who, with his suite, was entertained every where by the 
authorities, although they passed the night at a place which cannot 
well mean anything else than a caupona, v. 77 : 
Incipit ex illo montes Appuha notos 

Ostentare mihi, quos torret Atabulus, et quos , 

Niinquam erepsemus, nisi nos vicinia Trivici 
Villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo. 
for the delicate anecdote in the context shows that this could not 
have been the villa of a friend, but a house of public resort. 
[Duentzer understands by villa^ a small farm, erected by the state, 
where state-officers were entertained by the Porochus. Comp. Non. 
i. 239, and line 45. 

Proxima Campano ponti qiife ^ällnla. tectum 
Prsebuit, et parochi, quae debent, ligna salemque.] 



Scene IV.] THE INN'S. 353 

Possibly the road was too heavy to allow of the travellers reaching 
any other place that day, and they therefore stopped at the villa 
which had a caupona. 

But we need not advance such suppositions, as we have clearer 
proofs. As, for instance, the suggestion to Ballatius, that if we 
meet vdth much that is disagreeable anywhere, we must not 
immediately condemn the whole place, but seek out some other 
quarters, just as the traveller who was forced to stop at a caupona 
of the Via Appia, as a refuge from the weather, would not vdsh to 
spend his whole life in an inn, in order not to venture on the road 
again. Epist. i. II, II : 

Sed neque qui Capua Eomam petit, imbre lutoque 
Conspersns, volet in caupona vivere. 

And Propert. iv. 8, 19, when Cynthia, travelling with a favoured 

lover, in an elegant equipage to Lanuvium, puts up in a taberna : 

Appia, die quseso, quantum te teste triumphum 

Egerit effusis per tua saxa rotis. 
Turpis in arcana sonuit quum rixa taberna ; 
Si sine me, famse non sine labe mese. 

Again, Cicero, pj'o Cluent. 59 : Atque etiam, ut nobis renuntiatur, ho- 
tninem multorum, hospitu7n, A. Bimiiiim quendam, coponem de Via 
Latina suhornatis, qui sibi a Cluentio servisque ejus in taberna sua 
manus allatas esse dicat. [Appul, 3Iet. i. p. 110,] The instance of 
Antony need not be advanced. Cic. Phil. ii. 31 : Cum hora diei de- 
cima fere ad Saxa Rubra venisset, delituit in quadam caupmmla ; nor 
that of Petronius, the scene of whose narration is chiefly laid in 
inns. See cap. xv. 19, 80. One passage shall suffice (1 24) : tan- 
dem Crotona intravimus, ubi quidem parvo deversorio refecti poster o 
die amplioris fortunes domum qucerentes hicidimus in tiirbam, etc. 
Comp. Hor. Epist. i. 17, 8 : Si te pulvis strepitusque rotarum, si 
leedet caupona. 

Such inns, then, were not only to be found in the towns, but 
also standing isolated along the roads, as on the Via Appia not far 
from the Pontine Marshes, the Tres tabernee, mentioned Tlpa^. r. 
'Attoot. xxviii. 15 : KÜKeWsv o'l ctda\(poi ÜKovcravTeg rä Tnpi r)fxu)V 
l^rfKdov eig aTravrijcnv rifuv clxptg 'Attttiov (p6pov kuI TpiöJv raßipvwv. 
Other houses were naturally built about them, and thus arose a 
hamlet, which obtained the name of the inn. [Schwarz de foro 
Appii et tribus tabernis.'] 

These taverns were probably attached to the various villas along 
the road, for the profit of the owners, as they thus disposed of the 
wine produced on their estate. Hence Vitruv, vi. 8 : Qui autem 
fructibus rusticis serviunt, in eorum vestibuUs stabula, taberncB sunt 

A A 



354 THE INXS. [ExcuKsus II. 

facienda. Varr. H. R. i. 2, 23 : Si ager secundum viam et oppoHimus 
viatorihus locus, cedificandce tahenice diversorice. Suet. Claud. 38 : 
(Senatoren! relegavit) quod in cedilitate inquilinos prcediorum suonmi 
contra vetitutn cocta vendentes multasset, villicumque intervenientem 
ßagellasset. The popince were restricted to the sale of drink only, 
under Tiberius (Suet. 34) ; the interdiction, however, did not con- 
tinue long in force, but was removed under Claudius (Dio Cass. Ix. 
6) : revived again under Nero (Suet. Ner. 16), Interdictum, ne quid 
in popinis cocti prcBter legumina aut olera veniret, cum antea nullum 
non ohsonii genus proponeretur ; (Dio Cass. Ixii. 14, says, Tr\r)v \a\d" 
vojv Kal t-vovc) ; and again by Vespasian (Dio Cass. Ixvi. 10). To 
this is also to be referred, Mart. iii. 58 : 

Non segnis albo pallet otio copo. 

The name of such inns is caupona, taberna, tabet-na diversoria. 
Plaut. Mencechm. ii. 3, 81, where Mensechmeus, who has just arrived 
from the ship, on making use of the opportunity offered to him, 
from his being confounded with his brother, says to Messenio, as he 
goes to breakfast with the Hetaera JErotiu7n : 

Abduc ist OS in tabernam actutum diversoriam : 
also similarly, diversorium, or perhaps more correctly, deversoi'ium. 
See Drakenb. ad Liv. xliv. 43. Val. Max, i. 7, ext. 10, in the story 
above quoted from Cicero, names it taberna meritoria, and in Mar- 
tial, vi. 94, the same is expressed by stabulum. And often thus in 
the Dig. and in Appul. 

Similar houses of entertainment doubtless existed in Rome, but 
were only used by persons of the lower orders, who chanced to be 
there ; for strangers of importance readily found an hospitium in a 
private house. [Thus the ambassadors of the Rhodians complained 
that they were forced to lodge at Rome, sordido diversorio, vix 
mercede recepti. Liv. xlv. 22.] For the population of the city itself, 
there were numerous places where refreshments were sold. The 
general name for these establishments was taberna and caupona -, 
the first denotes generally every booth, not only for the sale of 
wares, but those of the tonsores, the medici and argentarii also. 
Caupona, on the contrary, is only used for such places where wine 
particularly, and other necessaries, were sold ; it still remains to be 
proved that caujoo denotes every sort of retailer. Whenever the 
caupo is mentioned, he is the seller of the necessaries of life, especi- 
ally wine ; hence the joke of Martial, about the rain in the vintage, 

1.57: 

Contimiis vexata madet vindemia nimbis, 

Non potes, vA cupias, vendere, caupo, merum : 
and hence the modest poet wishes to have for life, besides the 



Scene IV.] THE INNS. 355 

lanius, a cavpo, in order to be insured a supply of meat and drink, 
ii. 48. The popince, cooksliops, were a particular class, in which 
cooked meat chiefly, but drinks also, were sold ; whilst the caupo 
mostly sold his refreshments to be taken out of the shop, the pojja, 
(the occupier of the popina) sold his viands for consumption in the 
taberna, and drew wine which was drunk on the premises. Cic. 
Mil. 24 : Quin etiajn audiendm sit popa Licinius nescio quis de Circo 
maximo : se?'Vos Milonis apud se ehrios factos sihi confessos esse, etc. ; 
then, sed mirahar tarnen credi popce. [Hor. Ep, i. 14, 21, uncta 
popina.'] Originally, only persons of the lowest class and slaves 
were to be found taking their seats on the chairs of the taberna, 
and to do so was considered unseemly. [Juv. viii. 172 mentions 
nautcB, fur es fugitivi.'] The neat epigram of Martial (v. 70) 

alludes to this : 

Infusum sibi nuper a patrono 
Plenum, Maxime, centies Syriscus 
In sellariolis vagus popinis 
Circa balnea quatuor peregit. 

Even if we were disposed to assign to the passage another meaning, 
and compare the sellariolce popince with the lecticariola (xii. 58), 
the following verses clear up all doubt as to the meaning : 

quanta est gula, centies comesse ! 
Quanto major adhuc, nee accubare ! 

In later times such eating-houses were the lounge of idle and 
disorderly-living persons of the better classes ; [as Gabinius in Cic. 
in Pis. 6 ; and Thrasyllus in Appul. Met. viii. init. See Juv. viii. 
158 ; Suet. Gramm. 15 ; Vit. 13 ;] and it is clear that good enter- 
tainment was to be met with in them, from Syriscus having 
squandered away in a short time centies sesterces ; for which no 
doubt pleasures of all sorts were to be had. 

Ganeum, or ganea, is so far different, that every popina may 
certainly be called a ganeum, though not vice versa. The ganeum 
means generally only a place for secret debauchery, whence Livy 
twice (xxvi. 2, and E2nt. 1. c.) joins it with lustrum. [Cic. Sext. 9, 
ganeis adultei'iisque confecfus. Suet. Cal. 11.] 

What Plautus (Cure. ii. 13, 10 ; Eud. ii, 6, 45; Trin. iv. 3, 6) 
calls thermopoliwn, is nothing more than the popina, as we see from 
the imperial interdicts which are cited. 

Salmasius ad Spjart. Hadr. 22, says that tabernae in Rome were 

never opened before the ninth hour. Although we have not the 

authority of any old author, to quote in opposition to this assertion, 

it appears scarcely credible in itself, as doubtless many took their 

,prandiu7n there, and several passages occur which cannot at all 

aa2 






356 THE INNS. [Excursus TI. 

be reconciled witli it. In the case of the baths and Ixcpanaria (see 
the Excursus Sc. VI. and Exc. 1 Sc. VII.), it is very natural that 
a fixed hour was appointed, before which they could not be opened ; 
but as regards the eating-houses, no proof has been adduced, nor 
does such a restriction appear admissible. Passages in opposition 
to it are Plaut. Most. iv. 2, 52 : 

Vide sis, ne forte ad merendam quopiam devorteris, 
Atque ibi meliuscule, quam satis fuerit Liberis. 

Mencechm. v. 1, 3 : 

Immersit aliquo sese credo in ganeum : 
but it is about mid-day, and Menaechmeus is himself just coming 
from prandium. Pseud, ii. 2, 63, Harpax says : 

Ego devortor extra portam hue in tabernam tertiam. 
and V. 69, ubi prandero dabo operam somno. The most decisive 
proof is to be found in Plaut. Poen. Prol. 40 : 

Et hoc quoque etiam, quod pgene oblitus fui, 
Dum ludi fiunt, in popinam pedisequi 
Irruptionem facite : nunc dum occasio est, 
Nunc dum scribilitse sestuant, occurrite. 

and if we are not inclined to attach much weight to this passage, as 
being a joke, let us add thereto an actual fact. Cic. Pis. 6 : Memi- 
nistine, coenum, cmn ad te quinta fere hora cum C. Pisone venissein, 
neseio quo e gurgustio te prodire, involuto capite, soleatum? et cum 
isto ore fcetido teten^imam nobis popinam inhalasses, excusatione teuti 
valetudinis, quod diceres, vinolentis te quibusdam medicaminibus solei-e 
curari f 

The whole class of innkeepers was despised in Rome, and it is 
very easy to perceive why. When Hor. Sat. i. 1, 29, calls them 
perfidi and maligni (5, 4), [Mart. iii. 57, eallidos] it is ^ because 
people of this kind were infamous in Greece and Rome, for 
cheating, adulteration of wares, and fraud of every description ; 
so that in Greek, Kcnrr}\tviiv means also to adulterate.' Heind. ad 
I. i. 29. The popina also exhibited generally, if not always, the 
union of all kinds of debauchery. [The interdicted game of hazard 
was most likely played in the popinee. Mart. v. 84. 

Arcana modo raptus e popina 

^dilem rogat udus aleator. 

So that the surveillance of the aediles was very necessary. Suet. 
Tib. 34 ; Claud. 38.] There were perhaps among the rest exceed- 
ingly dirty holes, as may fairly be expected from the character of 
the company. Comp. Stockmann, De jyopinis Pom. L. 1805. 
[Wunderlich, De Veit, popinis ; Scheid, De cauponum origine.'] 
Respectable people therefore did not, at least till a later period, 



Scene IV.] 



THE INNS. 



357 



enter sucli Louses or booths ; but tbey t? ere not -without places of 
social entertainment, for not unfrequently many assembled in the 
medicincp.y tonstrince, and such like places, for their recreation. See 
Salmas. ad Plaut Epid. ii. 2, 14 ; and Heindorf on Hor. Sat. i. 7, 
3. At a later period it was customary to congregate in the tabernce 
libraries, and in the gymnasia, to converse on all manner of subjects. 
Gell. xiii. 30 : Laudahat venditahatque se nuper quispiam in lihraria 
sedens. But the public baths were the chief places of assembling. 
[In the so-called lupanar, at Pompeii, there is a fresco represent- 
ing several persons sitting and drinking in a tavern. The utensils 
of such an establishment are enumerated. Pauli. Big. xxxiii. 7, 13, 
doUa, vasa, ancones, calices, trullce, urncB, congiaria, etc. The wood- 
cut below is from a shield carved in stone, in a tavern at Pompeii.] 




EXCUESUS. SCENE V. 



THE OAEDENS. 

THE description given in the Fiftli Scene of the gardens belong- 
ing to the villa, may appear but little in accordance with the 
habits and tastes of antiquity, and many may be inclined to imagine 
that some garden in the old French mode of the seventeenth or 
eighteenth century had served as a model. But the old proverb, 
that there is nothing new under the sun, holds good in this case. 
Gardens laid out in this style, in which vegetation was forced into 
stiff geometrical figures, and the knife and shears of the gardener 
annihilated every vestige of nature's free dominion, were in fashion 
at Rome, and not reserved for the invention of a later age. [This 
is further evident from the frescos at Pompeii, representing gar- 
dens.] Indeed the ancients were more deserving of excuse for 
such absurdities, for the means afforded by nature in those days 
were but small in comparison with the abundant resources of our 
.time. Foreign countries had not as yet unfolded their rich treasures 
of luxuriant and splendid vegetation, nor their thousand shrubs and 
flowers ; and restricted to a barren flora, but little improved by 
culture, the Romans sought to create, by artificial means, a striking 
contrast to the free forms of Nature ,• and their trees and shrubs, 
such as the laurel, the cypress, the taxus, the buxus, the myrtle, 
and the rosemary, [which in Italy readies to the height of six or 
seven ells,] being in some measure naturally stiff in form, were quite 
adapted for their purposes. Were we to take from our parks the 
ornament of the seringas, bignonias, spirsea, the cytisus, the ribes, 
and pyrus — were we to banish from our flower-beds the magnificent 
tulips and hyacinths, the numerous varieties of roses and dahlias, 
the rich fund of perennials and annuals, we should soon begin to 
think how we could, by means of artificial designs, distinguish the 
garden from the woods and fields. [Wüstemann more correctly 
thinks that this odd taste was an imitation of Oriental gardening ; 
for the Greeks Imew nothing of these unnatural forms.] 

It may certainly be doubted whether there were at that period 
entire gardens laid out in this formal fashion. On the contrary, we 
may conclude, from the descriptions extant, that a mixture was re- 
sorted to, and that artificially trained hedges and alleys alternated 
with thickets and clear green spaces, and in most cases vines, fruit, 
and even vegetables, were not excluded. 



Scene Y.] THE GAEDEXS. 359 

It is strange fhat the Romans had no fixed name for the 
gardener, hortulanus being a term of later date. He is designated 
either by the more general term vilUcus, [who, as such, took care of 
the gardens situated at villas. So in Sen. Ep. 12, the villicus has 
to attend to the platam,] cultor hortonim, or in respect of indi- 
vidual portions of the garden, vinitor, olitor, \_arhorator]. But the 
proper fancy-gardener was called topiarius ; and it is best to connect 
with this name whatever is to be said concerning the period and 
nature of such gardens. 

Topiarii are mentioned by Cicero, and indeed as in general use, 
though this would not justify us in transferring their art to the 
vagaries of a later period. [Also in inscriptions; Orell. 2966. See 
Salmas. ad Spai^t. Hadr. 10.] He names them among the more 
respected slaves, Parad. v. 2 : Ut in magna stidtorum familia sunt 
alii laidiores, id sihi videntur, sed tarnen sei'vi, afrienses, topiarii, and 
expresses himself satisfied with his own topiarius, ad Qidnt.fr. iii. 
1, 2 : topiarium laudam : ita omnia convestit liedera, qua hasim viU(^, 
qua intercolumnia amhulationis, ut denique Uli ^Ja7/^a^^ topiariam 
facere videantur et hederam venders. This covering of the walls, 
the trees, and the terraces with ivy, evergreen, and acanthus, was 
entirely the business of the topiarius; hence Pliny (xxi. 11, 39) 
says, Vinca pervinca semper vir et, in inodum linece foliis genicidatim 
circumdata, topiaria herha ; andxxii. 22, 34, Acanthos est topiaria et 
urhana herha. In the same manner the trees round the Hippodrome 
in the Tuscan villa of the younger Pliny, were clad with ivy. Ep. 
V. 6, 32 : Platanis circuitur, illce hedera vestivntur, utque sum7ncs suis, 
ita imcs alienis frondihus virent. Hedera truncum et ramos per errat, 
vicinasque platanos transitu suo copulat. In addition to this they 
found sufficient occupation in the disposition and care of numerous 
arbours and covered paths, constructed especially of vines. But 
these simple ornaments of the garden were not enough ; trees and 
shrubs received, by means of tying up and priming, artificial shapes; 
walls, figures of beasts, ships, letters, and so forth^ were made out 
of them. The elder Pliny testifies how far people used to go in 
these absurdities. Speaking of the cypress, he says (xvi. 33, 60) : 
Metce demum aspectu non repudiata, distinguendis tantum pinoi'um 
ordinihus, nunc vero tonsilis facta in densitato parietum coercitaque 
gracilitate perpetuo tenera. Trahitur etiam itipicturas operis topiarii, 
venatus classesve et imagines verum tenui folio hrevique et virenti 
semper vestiens. The huxus, which played such a prominent part 
in the garden of the Tuscan villa, was used in a similar manner. 
[So also laurel and myrtle : Plin. H. N. xv. 39,] The description 
of it given by Pliny {Ep. v. 6) is the main source of our knowledge 



360 THE GAEDENS. [Excursus. 

about the ancient art of gardening. Among other things lie says 
(sect. 16) : Ante porticwn xystus concisus in plurimas species, distine- 
tusque huxo ; demissus inde pronusque pulvinus, cut bestiarum effigies 
invicem adversas huxus inscrijjsit. Acanthus in piano mollis et p(sne 
dixerim liquidus. Amhit liunc amhulatio pressis varieque tonsis viri- 
dibus inclusa ; ah his gestatio in modum drei, quce buxum midti- 
formem humilesque et retentas manu ai^hisculas circumit. Omnia 
m,aceriamuniuntur. llancgradata buxus operitetsubtrahit. [Firmic. 
Math. viii. 10 : Buxeas arbores tondentes in belluas ßngunt aut virides 
poi'ticus in circulum ßexis vitibus faciunt.'] The treacherous hear 
that conceals a snake in his jaws decidedly belongs to these bestia- 
rum effigies. Mart. iii. 19 : 

Proxima centenis ostenditur iirsa columnis, 

Exornant fictse qua platanona ferse. 
Hujiis dum patulos alludens tentat hiatus 

Pulcher Hylas, teneram mersit in ora mauum. 
Vipera sed cseco scelerata latebat in ore, ^ 

Vivebatque anima deteriore fera. 

Such bears are to be found amidst similar company in gardens, 
even in the present times. The description given in another part 
of Pliny (sect. 35) corresponds still more with the cones, pyramids, 
and letters of modern gardens. Alibi pratulum, alibi ipsa buxus 
intervenit informas mille descripta, literas inierdimi, qum modo nomen 
domini dicunt, modo artificis. Alternis metidce surgunt, alternis 
inserta sunt poma, et in opa^e urbanissimo subita velut illati ruris 
imitatio. Medium spatium brevioribus utrimque jjlatanis adornatur. 
Post has acanthus hinc inde lubricus etßexuosus ; delude pluresßgura 
pluraque nomina. [Plane-trees and cypresses were also cut un- 
naturally short. Plin. H. Is. xii. 6 : Cham<^platani vocantur coactce 
brevitatis, quoniam arborum etiam aborttis invenimus. Hoc quoque 
ergo in geyiere pumiliorum infelicitas dicta erit. Fit autem et serendi 
qenere et recidendi. Primus C. Matius ex equestri ordine Augusti 
amicus, invenit nemora tonsilia. xvi. 60. Wüstemann, Kunstgärt- 
nerei der Pömer.'] 

The vacant spaces set with flowers and borders were possibly in 
accordance with the taste of the whole garden, and subdivided into 
various forms by enclosures of box, as in the French gardens of the 
present day. At least we may gather as much from what the same 
Pliny says about the xystus before the yorticus of his villa (sect. 
16) : Ante porticwn xystus concisus in plurimas species, distinctusque 
buxo : for these plurimce species cannot well pass for anything else 
than the small beds {areolce) of divers forms. Frequently, too, such 
borders may have been elevated terrace-fashion (2ndvim surgentes : 



Scene V.] THE GARDENS. 361 

Plin. xxii. 22^ 34 ,• Gierig, ad Plin. Ep.), in which case, the margin 
rising in the form of an arch (torus, Plin.), was covered with ever- 
green or bears-foot. 

The gestatio and hippodromus were essential parts of such 
gardens. The former was a broad regular pathway, perhaps to be 
compared with an alley, although not always in a straight line, in 
which they used to be carried about in the lectica, when they did 
not wish for any violent exercise. It is true that Celsus (ii. 15) says, 
Genera gestationis plura sunt: lenissima est navi, vel in portu, velin 
ßumine ; vel in lectica aut scamno ; acrior vekiculo ; from which we 
might suppose that the gestatio was also designed for being driven 
in. But where there was a regular hippodrome, such a use of it 
would seem to be superfluous, and Celsus uses the word in its most 
extended meaning. 

Gierig (ad Plin. sect. 32) has rightly explained the hippodrome, 
and defended the word against the other reading hypodromiis. We 
cannot conceive that Pliny means a covered pathway. It was evi- 
dently a course similar to a circus, with several ways, separated by 
box-trees. Not only does the passage adduced by Gierig from 
Martial (xii. 50) prove that there were such hippodromes in gardens, 

Pulvereumque fugax hippodromon uugula carpit, 
Et pereuntis aquae fluctus ubique sonat : 
but also Epigr. 57, 20, where the poet, in answer to the question of 
Sparsus, why he so often visited his badly situated Nomentan villa, 
says, he can certainly very easily do without the country, when in 
Pome itself he has as good as a villa : 

Cui plana summos despicit domus montes, 
Et rus in Urbe est vinitorque Romanus ; 
Nee in Falerno colle major auetumnus, 
Intraque limen latus essedo cui'sus. 

These parts of the garden were possibly less artificial, and here it is 
that we must look for the so often mentioned woods of laurel and 
plane-trees (platanones, daplmones), and myrtle thickets (inyrtetd). 
Mart. iii. 58, x. 79, xii. 50. It was then the business of the topia- 
rius to maintain all these various parts of the garden in proper 
order. It is doubtful whether the viridarii, whose name often 
occurs in inscriptions, differed from them. We may perhaps imder- 
stand the latter word of those who took care of the viridaria in the 
houses, the cavcedium and peristylium, as well as the gardens on the 
roof ; but there is no sufficient ground for making such a distinc- 
tion. On the contrary, Ulpian {Dig. xxxiii. 7, 8) says : dolia, etiamsi 
defossa non sint, et cupce quibusdam in regionibus accedunt instru- 
mento : si villa cidtior est, etiam atrienses, scoparii : si etiam viridaria, 



362 THE GARDENS. [Excursus. 

topiarii. [Ulpian says nothmg against making a distinction between 
topiarius and viridarius. In tlie above passage he speaks only of a 
villa, wliere a topiarius had charge of all the gardens, consequently 
of the small viridaria also ; whilst the viridarius, who probably 
ranked lower, was especially designed for the small house-gardens 
in the city.] 

Besides him, however, we must suppose the existence of a par- 
ticular aquarius [I'ffioaywyoc], under which term is neither to be 
understood one of the collegium fontanorum, nor a water-carrier, 
nor a minister aquce at table, but a slave who constructed and kept 
in order all the aqueducts, as well as very ingenious fountains (of 
course also in the city residence). Such a one appears to be meant 
in Pauli, iii, 7 : Domo cum omni jure suo, sicut instructa est, legatüy 
urhana familia item artißces et vestiarii et dicetarii et aquarii eidem 
domui servientes legato cedunt. 

Much might be said concerning the flowers known to the 
Romans: for though the Flora of those days was but poor in 
comparison with ours, still Beckmann is wrong in supposing (Beitr. 
z. Gesch. d. JSrßnd. iii. 296) that the Romans contented themselves 
solely with the wild plants, and laid out neither flower-gardens, nor 
cultivated any exotics. But it would be useless to set down a mere 
catalogue of the important names of flowers given by Virgil, Pliny 
[xxi. 38], Columella, and others, and to enter into a more accurate 
investigation would require a special work ; for after all that Voss, 
Schneider, Billerbeck {Flora Classicd), Sprengel {Historia rei Her- 
harice), and others, have said on the subject, we still are in want of 
a detailed critical elaboration of the classical Flora. 

We may take for granted in general that the violaria and rosaria 
were the main ornaments of the gardens. Next came the bulbous 
plants, the crocus, narcissus, lilies, of more than one sort, gladiolus, 
irides, also hyacinths, in our sense of the word {hyacinthus orientalis, 
probably meant by Col. x. 100, 149, is understood by Schneider to 
mean iris), poppies, amaranthi, and so on. The rose was much 
grown, as it was the flower chiefly used for garlands ; and the pro- 
verb suh rosa bears testimony to the fact. It also serves to mark 
the regular comissatio. Mart. x. 19, 19. Cumfurit Lyt^us, cum reg- 
nat rosa, cum madent capilli ', and iii. 68, 5, deposito post vina rosasque 
pudore. Myrtle and roses were a common intermixture. See Mits- 
cherlich ad Hor. Od. i. 38. The heavy ce^itifolia was less adapted 
for garlands. Pliny, xxi. 4. The Milesian (Pliny, ardentissimo colore 
non excedens duodena folia) is, according to Billerbeck (Flora 
Classica, p. 133), the damask rose, under which name is probably 
not to be understood that so called by our gardeners, but a variety 



Scene V.] THE GARDENS. 363 

of tlie rosa lutea, witli a briglit red flower ; "but as this has not 
duodena folia, we must rather suppose a holoserica to be meant. 
Perhaps after all, amid the endless present varieties, the true Mile- 
sian rose is no longer distinguishable. More will be said on the 
coroncB in the Excursus on the Chaplets and Games. 

Green-houses, for the protection of the more tender kinds of 
exotics against cold, and for the production of flowers and fruits at 
other seasons than nature assigned to them, do not appear to be 
mentioned before the first centmy. Martial alludes to them fre- 
quently, as TÜi. 14 : 

Pallida ne Cilicum timeant pomaria brumam, 

Mordeat et tenenim fortior aura nemus, 
Hybernis objecta Notis specularia puros 

Admittunt soles et sine fsece diem, 
and viii. 68 : 

luvida purpureos urat ne bruma racemes, 

Et gelidum Bacchi mnnera frigus edat, 
Condita perspicua vivit riudemia gemma, 

Et tegitur felix, nee tamen uva latet. — 
Quid non ingenio vohiit natura licere ? 

Auctumnum sterilis ferre jubetur hiems. 

This was a regular hot-house, where winter-grapes were grown. 
Columella (xi. 3, 52) teaches how to have early melons, and Pliny 
(xix. 5, 23) relates of the portable gherkin and melon-beds of 
Tiberius : Nidlo quippe nmi die contigit ei pensiles eoruni hortos pro- 
moventibus in solem rotis olitorihus, rimisque hihernis diehis intra 
specidariiim munimenta revocantihus. [Salmas. ad Script. Eist. Aug. i. 
p. 419.] We see from Martial (iv. 21, o) that flowers also were 
forced in green-houses : 

Condita sic pure numerantur lilia vitro ; 
Sic prohibet tenuis gemma latere rosas. 

When therefore Böttiger says (Sab. i. 253), ^ Among the fruits 
which Martial in his ApopJioreta has ennobled with his distichs, 
there were no doubt several made only of wax, and the garlands of 
roses, in the middle of December, which he calls (xiii. 127) festivas 
coronas hrumcE, were probably made of coloured wax ; ' this is a 
perfectly untenable conjecture, and an incorrect account, for the 
reading is not festivas rosas, which would not suit the metre, but 
the epigram runs thus : 

Dat festinatas, Csesar, tibi bruma coronas : 
Quondam veris erat, nunc tua facta rosa est. 

But in festinatas lies the most convincing proof that they were 
forced roses. Compare vi. 80 : 



364 THE GARDENS. [Excursus. 

Ut nova dona tibi, Caesar, Nilotica tellus 

Miserat hibernas ambitiosa rosas : 
Navita derisit Pharios Memphitieus hortos, 

Urbis ut intravit limina prima tuae. 
Tantus veris honos, et odorse gratia Florae, 

Tantaque Paestani gloria ruris erat, 

[It appears also from this epigram, that, as the supply of native 
roses did not equal the excessive demand for them at Rome, roses 
were imported from Egypt ,• and this in winter. Of course means 
were used for keeping them as fresh as possible on the road.] 
Comp. iv. 28. But it is not necessary to suppose that in every case 
where rosce hihernce are mentioned, we must understand roses arti- 
ficially forced in hot-houses. The roses of Psestum bloomed for a 
second time in the autumn, hifeni'osariaPc€sti,Y\i'^. Georg, iv. 119; 
Mart. xii. 31 ; and when in mild winters the rosa jjallida is seen to 
bloom in Germany in the open air at Christmas, and even in 
January, why should not the same thing have been possible in a 
milder climate ? Roses and garlands of wax are not in any case to 
be thought of. [That they had artificial flowers, is beyond all doubt. 
See the Excursus on the Chaplets and Games. 

Fruit-trees were, partly, to be found in the midst of large gar- 
dens, among other sorts of trees (Plin. Jilp. v. 6, 35) , although Becker 
interprets this passage differently ; partly in the fields, or in orchards 
(pomaria), where they stood in a quincunx. Col. de Arh. 19. Their 
cultivation was very common ; hence Varro says, R. R.i. 2 : non 
arhorihus consita Italia est, ut tota pomarium videatur. See also Cato, 
Varro, Columella, and others passim. But it afterwards degenerated 
into luxury. Plin. II. N. xix. 19 : Fereiidum sanefuerit exquisita nasci 
poma, alia sapor e, alia magnitudine, alia monstro pauperihus inter- 
dicta, xi. 1. The chief kinds of fruits among the Romans are as 
follows.] 

Honey-apples, melimela, a sapore melleo. Plin. xv. 10, 14, lo- 
These were one of the earliest species of apples; but did not last 
long; while, on the other hand, the Amerina kept longest. Plin. 16. 
On the melimela, which are often mentioned by Martial, see Schnei- 
der «c/ Varr. i. 59. [Besides these, there were the orhicidata, cotonea, 
Sestiana, Matiana, Atnerina. Colum. xii. 45 ; v. 10; Macrob. ii. 15.] 
Among the sorts of pears (of which Pliny enumerates thirty), the 
most valued were the Crustumian. Plin. xv. 16; Voss «c? Virg. Georg. 
ii. 88, the Falernian, and the Syrian. Mart. v. 78, 18. Comp. Colmn. 
V. 10, 17. The volema, fist-pear, was chiefly celebrated on account 
of its size. Virg. gravis. Col. ih. Cat. 7, 3 ; perhaps the same that 
Pliny calls lihralis. Macrob. ii. 15. 



Scene V.] THE GARDEIS-S. 365 

There were numerous yarieties of plums, ingens turha prunoj-um, 
says Pliny, xv. 12. Among these were the Armeniaca, cereola or 
cerima^ Damascena. [Col. x. 404.] The latter were imported dry 
from that country. Mart. xiii. 29, [The drying of fruits was also 
very common in Italy. Pall. iii. 25, xii. 7 : Col. xii. 14. They had 
also cherries, quinces, peaches, pomegranates (nialum Punicumy 
Colum.v.lO; deArh. 23; Plin.xv.ll); several sorts of figs (Macrob. 
ii. 16 ; Plin. xv. 19 ; Col. v. 10) ; nuts (Macrob. ii. 14 ; Col. v. 10 ; 
Plin. XV. 24 ; Cat. 8) ; chestnuts (Pallad. xii. 7 ; Col. iv. 33 ; Plin. 
XV. 25, xvii. 34) ; almonds, medlars, and mulberries. (Plin.xv.) The 
cultivation of wine and olives was of great importance. The oil 
(Col. V. 8) was used for food as well as for burning and anointing. 
The Venafran and Tarentine were celebrated. Varro, R. R. i. 2. 
On the different sorts of olive-trees (olece), see Plin. H.N. xv. 1, xvii. 
29 ; Macrob. Sat. ii. 16 ; Col. v. 8 ; Cat. 6. The vine was either grown 
in vineyards (yined) attached to poles ; or to trees (such gardens 
were called arbustum) ; or it grew against houses, or the arcades of 
the interior. Plin. ii. 165. Vine-arbours were called pergidce. In 
this branch, which was considered by the Romans quite the climax 
of horticulture, they displayed much cleverness ; upon which they 
prided themselves not a little. Plin. xiv. 2. There were more than 
thirty sorts of grapes, partly for the table, partly for wine : the 
Amijiea, Nomentana, euganea, Alhhrogica, Apicia, gemeUa, were 
among the best. Col. iii. 5 ; Pallad. ii. 10 ; Cato, 6 ; Macrob. ii. 16 ; 
Plin. xiv. xvii. 35. See more in Excurs. 4, Sc. IX. 

On the vegetables, see Excurs. 1, Scene IX. Comp. Cic. de Sen. 
16.] 

In conclusion, we may remark, that in Pome there were also 
window-gardens (flower-pots in the windows) : we cannot other- 
wise understand what Martial says, xi. 18 : 

Donasti, Lupe, ms sub urbe nobis ; 
Sed rus est mihi majus in fenestra. 

[Above all, Plin. H. N. xix. 19 : Jam in fenestris suisplehs ttrhana 
in imagine liortorum qiiotidiana oculis rura proßbebant, antequam 
prcpßgi prospectus omnes coegit multitudinis intiumeratce sceva latro- 
dnatio. Pespecting the solaria, see above.] 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE VII. 



THE BATHS. 



THE batli was a most important event in the every-day life of 
the Romans of that period which is here principally described, 
and one of their most essential requirements. Bodily health and. 
cleanliness, although its original object, had long ceased being the 
only one ; for the baths, decorated with prodigal magnificence, and 
supplied with all the comforts and conveniences that a voluptuary 
could desire, had become places of amusement, whither people 
repaired for pastime and enjoyment. In earlier times, bathing was 
much less frequent, as Seneca tells us, citing the authority of more 
ancient authors. JSpist. 86 : Namy ut aiunt, qui priscos moi-es urhis 
tradiderunt (perhaps Yarro) hrachia et crura quotidie ahluehant, quce 
scilicet sordes opera collegerant : C(i4erum toti nundinis lavahantur. 
Cato, de lib. educ. in Non, iii. 5, v. ephippium : Mihi puero 7nodica 
una fuit tunica et toga, sine fasciis calceamenta, equus sine ephip- 
pio, balneum non quotidianmii^ alveus rarus. And Columella does 
not approve of the slaves bathing daily or frequently (i. 6, 20) : 
nam eas quoque (balneas) refert esse, in quibus familia, sed tan- 
tum feriis lavetur, neque tnini corporis robori convenit frequens usus 
earwn. 

Hence the ancient baths, both public and private, being in the 
words of Seneca, in usum, non oblectamentum reperta, were of very 
simple construction. In the villa of Scipio Africanus, where Seneca 
found so much cause for instituting a comparison between the 
ancient and modern times, there was a balneolum angtistum, tenebri- 
cosum ex consuetudine antiqua. Then he says : non videbatur majo- 
ribus tiostris caldum, nisi obscurum ; and further on : In hoc balnea 
Scipionis minimce sunt rimce magis quam fenestrce, ut sine injuria 
munimenti lumen admitterent. So also he designates the public 
baths as obscura et gregali tectorio inducta. The ancients seem to 
have confined themselves merely to a cold and a warm bath, the 
temperature of which was under the superintendence of the sediles, 
as Seneca relates in the letter mentioned. Eventually, sweating 
and hot- water baths were added. [The aediles superintended not 
merely the temperatm-e, and cleanliness of the baths, but also pre- 
served public decorum ; particularly in reference to the two sexes ; 
who were not allowed to bathe together.] 



Scene YII.] THE BATHS. 367 

We are rich in means to enable us to form a clear idea of the 
arrangement of the Roman baths, as we not only possess the works 
of several ancient writers who have either given plans for con- 
structing baths, or descriptions of them, but also considerable 
remains, which agree with the accounts that have been handed 
down to us. Of the authors we must mention first Vitruvius (v. 
10), and Palladius (i. 40), who treat of the plan of the baths. In 
addition to whom, Lucian ('I-mriag ^ ßaXdvsiov) ; Pliny, in both the 
letters about his villas (ii. 17) ; Statins {Balneum Etrusei) ; Silv. 
i. 5 j Martial (vi. 42) ; and Sidon. Apoll. {Epist ii. 2), have left 
interesting accounts ; and we obtain from the epigrams of Martial, 
and from Seneca (Epist. 51, 6Q, and 86), numerous notices on the 
nature of the baths, and life in the same. 

But the remains, at present in existence, of ancient baths them- 
selves, are much more instructive than all these written accounts ; 
among which are the ruins of the baths of Titus, Caracalla, and 
Diocletian, in Rome. It would be difficult to explain, with any 
degree of certainty, the proper connexion of the various parts of 
these extensive establishments, and to do so would require not only 
a good architect, but also a learned antiquarian and philologist ; 
and it is on this account that there is so much diversity in the 
plans that have been given of them. We shall here, however, refer 
only to the general customs and manners which can be with cer- 
tainty determined, rejecting all hypotheses about these baths, and 
simply giving a description of other smaller ones, which, being in a 
better state of preservation, will afford us a clearer idea of the 
essential parts of a Roman bath. A specimen of this kind is to be 
found in the ruins discovered in 1784 at Badenweiler, though they 
are only just enough preserved to enable us to distinguish the indi- 
vidual divisions from each other. Far more important than these, 
are the thermce, discovered some years since at Pompeii, which were 
in such a condition when excavated, as to allow of our assigning 
with certainty to most of the parts their particular destination. 

Of more modern writings on this subject, besides several pas- 
sages in the works of Winckelmann, the following are particularly 
worthy of consideration : Camercn, TJie Bath of the Bomans ; Le 
terme del Bomani disegnate da A, Balladio, con alcune osservazioni 
da 0. B. Scamozzi ; Descrijjtion des Bains de Titus (a work, however, 
which is occupied far more with the paintings found there, than 
with the baths themselves) ; Stieglitz, Archäol. der Bauk, ii. 267 j 
Hirt, Gesch. der Batik, iii. 233 ; Weinbrenner, Entwürfe und Er- 
gänzungen antiker Gebäude, which contains the bath of Hippias, 
after Lucian, and the ruins of Badenweiler. Besides which, we 



368 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

Lave the remarks of the editors of Vitruvius, particularly Schneider, 
ii. 375 — 391. Stratico is more superficial, and Marini has done 
little more than repeat the old erroneous opinions. Concerning 
the baths of Pompeii, we have detailed accounts from Gugl. Bechi, 
in the Miis. Borh. ii. t. 49 — 52, and in Gell's Pompeiana : the 
topography^ edifices^ and ornaments of Pompeii. The remit of exca- 
vations since 1819. Lond. 1835. i. 83, ii. 80. 

The baths of Pompeii, which were discovered complete not only 
in their essential parts, but also in their ornaments, inscriptions, 
and even utensils, are adapted above all others for making- us 
generally acquainted with the internal arrangements of Roman 
baths. Moreover, we may assume that other baths were laid down 
after the same plan, as those at Stabise, and (as far as regards the 
caldarium at least) that found in the villa of Diomedes (see Voyage 
pittor. de Naples, liv. 10 et 11, pi. 79), agree almost entirely with 
that of Pompeii j and the arrangement of baths in private houses 
and villas was no doubt similar, though they were of course not on 
so large a scale as the great public thermce. A description of the 
baths of Pompeii would on this account be appropriate here, and 
we therefore extract the principal parts of Sir W. Gell's account, 
which seems preferable, because it is not only more general, but 
also dwells on interesting peculiarities, and thus presents a most 
comprehensive view of the plan and internal arrangements. In 
other respects, we cannot deny that Bechi, with far more extensive 
antiquarian research, often gives more correct explanations, as we 
shall have occasion to observe in our parenthetical remarks. 

The plates we here give represent : I. The bath we are about 
to describe ; II. The baths of Stabiae (according to Gell, i. 131) ; 
and III. The well-known and instructive painting, representing 
the section of a Roman bath, found in the baths of Titus. 

The grand entrance (such are the words of Gell, i. 88) seems 
to have been that in the street of Fortune, so called, at present, 
from the temple of that goddess. [Bechi, on the contrary, con- 
siders that marked 21", on the opposite side, to have been the 
grand entrance. B.] ^ All or many of the rooms opening into the 
street, on each side this entrance, seem to have been vaulted, thus 
contributing to the support of the arches thrown over the larger 
chambers in the interior. 

This entry or passage, marked 21" on the plan, opened into a 

coui-t, 20, about sixty feet long, bounded on two sides by a Doric 

portico, and on the third by a crypt. Over the crypt was a second 

story, where the doubtful indications of a chimney may be observed. 

^ The passages in brackets marked B. are inserted by Becker. Transl. 



Scene VII.] 



THE BATHS. 



369 



At the opposite angle of the court was another exit, marked 
21*^^ leading into an alley which runs from the forum to the house 




PLAN OF THE BATHS AT POMPEII. 

of Pansa. At this exit was the lati-ina, 22, the uses of which are 
unequivocally visible. The spot marked 19, which is singular on 
account of a sort oi pronnos with seats, is vaulted, and was lighted 
at night by a lamp, so placed that its rays fell into the chamber 15 
on one side, and enlightened 19 on the other. The same con- 
trivance existed in the recess 14, where a lamp gave light also to 
the portico. Both these lamps were protected by circular convex 

£ B 



370 



THE BATHS. 



[Excursus I. 



glasses, the fragments of wliicli were found in the inner chambers 
at their excavation. 

As the baths of Pompeii were not of sufficient consequence to 
be furnished with every sort of apartment, like those of the capital, 
we are to look for the vestibulmn and the exedra, or a place which 
might serve instead of them, near the entrance of the thermce. 
^ In vestibuh deheret esse poj'ticus ad deambulationes his qui essent 
ingressuri.'' That portico is undoubtedly the one in the court; 
and the exedra, so called from the Upai, or seats, where those 
who did not choose to walk in the portico might repose, is repre- 
sented by the benches which run along the wall. [These are not 
given by Gell, but copied here from the Miis. Borh., and marked 
with o. Bechi considers them meant for the use of slaves who 
accompanied their masters to the bath, and calls the room 19 an. 
oecus or exedra. B.] Vitruvius mentions that, while some were 
bathing, others were generally waiting to succeed them. 

In this court, or vestibule, was found a sword with a leather 
sheath (?) and the box for the quadrans, or money, which was paid 
for each visitor. The quadrans was the fourth part of the assiSy 

II. 




PLAN OF THE BATHS OF STABIL, AFTER GELL. 



A. Praefumium. 

B. Laconicum. 

C. Tepidarium. 



D. Natatorium. 

E. F?igidariu7n. 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 371 

and the fourteentli part of a denarius. [Fourteentli is put by 
mistake for fortieth.. It is natural, that after the denarius was 
computed equal to sixteen asses, the quadrans also underwent a re- 
duction, and sixty-four went to a denarius. B.] A sum so moderate, 
that the heating of the baths could not have been defrayed without 
a crowd of bathers. The poet remarks upon the trifling sum with 
which a man made himself as happy as a king : Dum tu quadrante 
lavatum rex ibis. Hor. Sai. iii. [The meaning of this ironical 
passage has been clearly misunderstood by the author. B.] 

Juvenal says that youths under the age of fourteen paid 
nothing. Sat. ii. [The words are, (v. 152) : Nee pueri credunt, 
nisi qui nondum cere lavantur ; but the sense seems rather to be, 
children who do not as yet visit the public baths. B.] The smallness 
of the sum, however, was a great encouragement to bathers, who, 
according to Pliny, sometimes bathed seven times in one day. 
[The author is much mistaken if he fancies this was usual. The 
passage in Pliny does not occur to me; but ^1. Lamprid. (11) 
says of Commodus : Lavabat per diem septies atqzie octies. However, 
this was a monstrous way of living. B.] 

It is exceedingly probable (?) that the sword was that of the 
keeper of the thermce, or halneator, whose station, with his box 
of money, must have been the ala of the portico, 19, This room 
was not painted, and the roof seems to have been blackened by 
the smoke of the lamps. Those who had paid here might have 
entered with gome sort of ticket. Tickets for the theatre have 
been found at Pompeii, and have been engraved. One for the 
show of gladiators is in the possession of Mr. Dodwell at Rome. 

In this Doric portico persons waited for admission to the thermce^ 
which were not of sufficient size to admit conveniently more than 
twenty or thirty at once. Here, therefore, notices of shows, 
games, exhibitions, or sales, might conveniently be exposed to the 
public. Accordingly, on the south wall was painted in large 
letters, Dedicatione^ &c. [Here follows the inscription, and then 
an explanation of the sparsiones, which I have omitted, as being of 
very little importance. We must however remark that he adduces 
another inscription, in which spassiones occurs. The author holds 
this to be a provincialism (?), and suspects that the first inscription 
had the word also thus written, though it was no longer fresh 
enough to ascertain this. Bechi says nothing about it. Relaz. d. 
So. Mus. Borb. ii. B.] 

From the court, those who intended to bathe passed by a small 
corridor, into the chamber 17, which must be supposed to have 
corresponded with the first room of the Turkish bath, where a 

B B 2 



372 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

stranger is undressed. [The author describes (p. 86) the arrange- 
ments of the Turkish haths, from which he proceeds to a description 
of those at Pompeii, which he considers analogous to them. B.] 
In this corridor was found a great number of lamps, perhaps more 
than five hundred, but above one thousand were discovered in the 
whole circuit of the baths, of which it is said the workmen were 
ordered to make a general destruction, after the best had been 
selected. 

These lamps were generally of common terra cotta, and some of 
them had the impression of the figures of the Graces, and others of 
Harpocrates, of moderate execution. Athenaeus (b, xv.) says that 
the lamps in baths were of brass, [He probably alludes to the 

words : 6 Sk Evßoiog TroWä ^ev dprjKev iv toiq iroirjfiaai ^apUvTa ' irtpi 
fxkv TTJg Twv ßaXavti(x)v [J-dxVQ ' BdWov S' äXXr]Xovs x^^^'^^P^^'-'^ ^yX^^V'^'-^' 
But what right there is to assume from thence that the lamps were 
of brass, we cannot conceive. B.] and distinguished by names ex- 
pressive of the number of burners, such as monomyxi, dimyxi, 
trimyxi and poJymyxi ; but the authors who have written on the 
subject, seem to speak always of buildings and customs on a scale 
of magnificence too extravagant to guide us in the explanation of 
the Pompeian thermae. Some attention has been paid to the 
decoration of this passage, the ceiling being covered with stars. 

In the room 17, all who frequented the thermse for the purpose 
of bathing met, whether they entered by the portico, or from 
either of the doors from the street on the north ; and here was 
certainly the frigidarium, in which many persons took off their 
garments, but more especially those who intended to make use 
only of the natatio, or cold bath. To them, at least, this chamber 
served as the spoUatormm, apodyterium, or apolyter-ium, so called 
from the 'A7ro^ur//piov of the Greeks, signifying the place where 
the clothes were left ; [The apodyterium, as Bechi also observes, 
was never called spoliatorium, and even spoliarimn is very doubtful 
as far as regards baths. Apolyterium is perfectly erroneous. B.] 
and accordingly we may observe on entering, certain holes in the 
wall, in which had either been inserted rafters or pegs for sup- 
porting shelves, or for hanging garments. Pliny mentions that 
people first entered into the apodyterium, or tepidarium, with a 
temperate air, and consigned their garments to caprarii, which 
were probably pegs, so called from their likeness to horns. [Where 
Pliny says this, we know not ; for the author is not used to give 
references to the passages he alludes to. Bechi, too, says : ' There 
are apertures in the waU made to receive the wooden props or hooks 
on which were hung the garments of those who undrest here, 



Scene VIT.] THE BATHS. 373 

before taking the bath in the adjoining rooms.' But it seems 
almost indubitable, that a sad confusion has been made here 
between caprarii and capsarii, persons who took charge of the 
clothes at the bath. Shelves are visible in the painting from the 
baths of Titus, in the tepidarium, on which a man is just placing 
garments. B.] 

The chamber itself, which is spacious, is vaulted, and the arch 
springs from a projecting cornice, covered with a richly-coloured 
painting of griffins and lyres. The ceiling appears to have con- 
sisted of panels of white within red borders, and the pavement of 
the common sort of white mosaic. The walls were painted yellow. 
Stone benches occupy the greater part of the walls, with a step 
running below them slightly raised from the floor. A little apart- 
ment at the north end may have been either a latrina, or, if it had 
sufficient light, a tonstrina for shaving, or it might possibly have 
served for keeping the unguents, strigils, towels, and other articles 
necessary for the accommodation of the visitors. 

It is probable that a window once existed at the north, like that 
now remaining at the south end ; but in no case could this, or any 
other room in the Pompeian thermae, answer to the description of 
the wide windows of the frigidarium of the author, who says, 
Frigidarium locus ventis perßatus fenestris amplis. The yet re- 
maining window admitted light from the south, and is placed 
close under the vault of the roof, and rather intrenching upon it. 
It opens upon the roof of the chamber 18, and was not only formed 
of glass, but of good plate-glass, slightly ground on one side so as 
to prevent the curiosity of any person upon the roof. Of this glass 
all the fragments remained at the excavation ; a circumstance which 
appeared not a little curious to those who imagined that its use 
was either unknown, or very rare among the ancients, and did not 
know that a window of the same kind had been found in the baths 
of the villa of Diomedes. 

Glass seems to have at first been brought from Egypt (?), and to 
have, in fact, received its name of voXoq from the Coptic. Crystal, 
KpvcrraXXoc, or the peimanent ice of the ancients, originally desig- 
nated the natural stone itself. It is said to have been little known 
in Rome before 536 a. f. c, but this would give ample time for its 
use at Pompeii long before its destruction. 

There are few subjects on which the learned seem to have been 
so generally mistaken as that of the art of glass-making among the 
ancients, who seem to have been far more skilful than was at first 
imagined. Not to mention the description of a burning-glass in 
the Nubes of Aristophanes, v. 764, the collection which Mr. Dodwell 



374 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

first formed and brought into notice at Rome by repolishing the 
fragments, is sufficient to prove that specimens of every known 
marble, and of many not nov^ existing in cabinets, as well as every 
sort of precious stone, were commonly and most succesöfully 
imitated by the ancients, who used these imitations in cups and 
vases of every size and shape. 

In the time of Martial, about a century after Christ, glass cups 
were common, except the calices allassontes, which displayed change- 
able or prismatic colours, and, as Vossius says, were procured in 
Egypt, and were so rare that Adrian, sending some to Servianus, 
ordered that they should only be used on great occasions. 

The vast collection of bottles, glasses, and other utensils 
discovered at Pompeii, is sufiicient to show that the ancients were 
well acquainted with the art of glass-blowing in all its branches ; 
but it is not the less true that they sometimes used, much as we do, 
horn for lanterns, which Plautus terms Vulcan in a prison of horn ; 
\_Amphit7'. i. 1, 185 : Volcanum in comu condusum geris. So also 
mention is made in Athenaeus, xv. p. 699, of Kiparivov <])w<y(p6pov 
Xvxi'ov as\a(^, and in Martial, xiv. 61 and 62, laterna ex vesica and 
cornea. So too is explained laterna Punica in Plautus, Aul. iii. 6, 
30. B.], and that windows and, Cicero says, lanterns [ad Attic, iv. 3, 
linea laterna. B.] were sometimes made of linen instead of glass, as 
we see oiled paper in modern times. The common expression for 
these objects in Latin appears to be Fenestrce voluhiles vel lineis 
velis, vel specularia vitratis clauses. [The vela, at all events, are 
something quite different. B.] 

In process of time, glass became so much the fashion, that 
whole chambers were lined with it. The remains of such a room 
were discovered in the year 1826, near Ficulnea, in the Roman 
territory ; and these are hinted at in a passage of the Roman 
naturalist : Non dubie vitreas facturus came7'as, si prius id inventum 
fuisset. [Plin. xxxvi. 25, 64. B.] In the time of Seneca the 
chambers in thermae had walls covered with glass and Thasian 
marble, the water issued from silver tubes, and the decorations 
were mirrors. [This is incorrect. Seneca says, JEpist. 86 : Nisi 
parietis magnis et pretiosis orhihus refidserunt ; and even if he had 
written speculis, still we must rather have understood thereby the 
marble medallions, which, like the abaci, served to adorn the 
walls. B.] 

In the semicircular compartment containing the window was a 
large basso-relievo in stucco, of which the subject appeared to be 
the destruction of the Titans (giants) by Jupiter, or perhaps by 
Saturn (!), whose colossal head appeared in the centre. Bacchus 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 375 

was one of tlie great assistants of Jupiter in that combat ; and the 
cup of Bacchus, or one of the same shape, appears on the right, as 
if thrown at the Titan. The subject is at present scarcely intelli- 
gible, having suffered much in the reparation of the roof. [And 
this fact may have led the author astray in his conjectures. Bechi 
says : ' Underneath this window is wrought in stucco a huge and 
bearded mask, from the pendent locks of which flow streams of 
water. Two tritons, with vases on their shoulders, are struggling 
to reach the centre of the fountain, and a shoal of dolphins, har- 
nessed by cupids, are represented as sporting impatient at their 
chains.' These would certainly be more befitting ornaments for a 
bath than a gigantomachia. B.] On the frescos in his frigidarium, 
Sidon. says, {Ep. ii. 2), Non hie per nudam pictorum eorporum 
pulehritudinem turpis prostat historia — ahsunt ridicuU vestitu et 
vuUibus histriones — ahsunt luhrici tortuosique pngillatu et nexihus 
palcedritce : which marks the usual decorations.] 

From the frigidarium a short passage opened into the street on 
the north, and a little recess is observable in it, where possibly 
another person sat to receive the money of the bathers. The 
third passage communicated with the hj^ocaust, or stoves, and 
these again with the street. 

A door, uniform with that leading from the court, opened into 
apartment 18, in which was the natatio, or natatorimn, piscina, or 
cold bath. Some may be inclined to apply the term haptisterion 
to the vase into which the bathers plunged. The word piscina is 
applied to the bath by the younger Pliny. It appears that Xovrpov 
was the Greek appellation. That this was called hajitisteiium in 
the time of Pliny appears from this passage, considering its con- 
nection with the frigidarium : Inde apodyterium halinei laxum et 
Jiilare exeipit cella frigidaria in qua haptisterium amplum atque 
ojjacum. [Hereupon vid. inf. B.] 

This is perfectly preserved, and nothing is wanting but the 
water, which anciently gushed from a copper pipe opposite the 
entrance, about four feet from the floor, and fell into a cistern, 
being supplied by pipes, yet to be traced, from the great reservoir 
near the prcefurnium. This apartment is a circle enclosed by 
a square, in the angles of which are four alcoves, called by the 
ancients scholce, a word derived from the Hebrew, and signifying 
repose. 

The diameter of the circle is eighteen feet six inches. Pound 
the whole runs a walk, or amhulatory, two feet four inches and a 
half wide. The piscina, or vase itself, is twelve feet ten inches in 
diameter, and has a seat eleven inches wide, surrounding it at the 



376 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

depth of ten inclies below the lip, and two feet four inches from the 
bottom, allowing a depth of water equal to about three feet. The 
alcoves, or scholse, are five feet two inches wide, by two feet half- 
an-inch deep. Their arches, which rise to the height of one foot 
eight inches, spring from a point five feet six inches above the 
floor. 

The whole of the piscina, or natatio, with its seat or step, the 
pavement of the scholee, or the amhulatorium, is of white marble, 
and in perfect preservation. The roof is a dome, or rather a cone, 
of which a small part of the summit is destroyed. It appears to 
have been painted blue, and had an opening or window near the 
top, toward the south-west, possibly not glazed, as, being a cold 
bath, the increase of temperature was not required. The walls 
have been painted yellow, with certain branches here and there of 
green The walls of the alcoves were blue or red, and the arches 
have a pretty relieved border in stucco. 

About eight feet from the floor, a cornice runs round the whole, 
nearly eighteen inches high, coloured red, and adorned with stucco 
figures representing, in all appearance, the course on foot, on 
horseback, and in chariots. The spina, or perhaps the goal, is also 
visible ; and, though much ruined, the chariot-race and the run- 
ning horses with their riders have an air of life and verity, which 
seems to evince that they were at least copied from sculptures of 
the most brilliant period of the arts. 

The natatorium of the baths of Diocletian was 200 feet long, by 
half that width, the Aqua Martia supplying copious streams of 
water, which spouted forth in grottos artificially contrived. With 
the magnificence of the capital, the piscina of Pompeii cannot 
pretend to vie ; but nothing can be more elegant, or more aptly 
calculated for the purpose of bathing, than the chamber in question. 

A doorway, the jambs of which are somewhat inclined, and 
prove that the folding-doors, which turned upon umbilici, or pivots, 
were calculated to shut by their own weight, conducted the visitor 
to the chamber 15, which was called either tepidarium, dXawTrfpiov, 
apodyterium, elceothesium, or unctuaritim ; for, in thermce of small 
dimensions, one chamber must have served for many of those pur- 
poses to which, in the imperial city, separate apartments were 
allotted. 

It is therefore probable, that though the frigidarium served as 
an apodyterium to the cold bathers, those who took the warm 
bath undressed in the second chamber, 15, which was warmed not 
only by a portable fire-place, or focidare, called by the Italians 
hracciere, but by means of a suspended pavement, heated by the 



Scene YII.] THE BATHS. 377 

distant fires of the stove of the caldarium, or laconicum. [This 
seems quite a mistake, and is entirely at variance with the section 
of the baths given by Gell himself. The caldarium alone had 
suspmsurce, according to Bechi. The tepidarium was warmed only 
by the large fire-place. In the picture from the baths of Titus, 
the matter is doubtful ; for according to the copies we have of it, 
a part of the tepidarium seems to have suspensurse. B.] The 
temperature did not, probably, much exceed that necessary to 
impart an agreeable warmth^ and supply the want of the more 
cumbrous articles of dress. 

In the tepidarium are three seats of bronze, about six feet long, 
and one broad. (They were placed along the side walls, while the 
foculare stood across the bottom of the apartment.) The seats are 
inscribed with the name of the donor, M. Nigidius Vaccula, whose 
heraldic cognizance, if that expression were admissible, was a pun 
upon his name, the legs of the seats being those of a cow, whose 
head forms their upper ornament, and whose entire figure is the 
decoration of the foculare. The inscription runs thus: M. Nigidius 
Vaccula, P. S. (pecunia sua.) 

The hearth, 16, is about seven feet long, and two feet six broad. 
It is of bronze, and is ornamented by thirteen battlemented summits 
and a lotus at the angles. Within there is an iron lining, calculated 
to resist the heat of the embers, and the bottom is formed by bars 
of brass, ou which are laid bricks supporting the pumice-stones for 
the reception of the charcoal. 

This apartment was decorated in a manner suitable to its ap- 
pearance. The pavement of white mosaic, with two small borders 
of black, the ceilings elegantly painted, the walls covered with 
crimson, and the cornice supported by statues, all assisted in ren- 
dering this a beautiful and splendid place of relaxation for the 
inhabitants of Pompeii. The cornice begins at four feet three 
inches above the pavement, and is one foot two inches and a half 
high, the abacus, which is five inches and a half, included. iVbove 
this, the figures (Telamones) with the entablature rise to the height 
of three feet five inches more, and above these is the flowery 
Corinthian tracery. These figures are about two feet in height, 
stand upon little square plinths or dies of three inches high, and 
hold their arms in a posture fitted for assisting the head to bear 
the superimposed weight. They are of terra cotta, and stand with 
their backs placed against square pilasters, projecting one foot from 
the wall, and with an interval of one foot three inches and a half 
between each. The use of these figures in the baths of Pompeii, 
by whatever name they may have been called, was evidently to 



378 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

ornament tlie separations between a number of niclies or recesses, 
in which the garments of those who went into the sudatorium, or 
inner apartment, to perspire, were laid up till their return. 

The heat in this chamber was a dry warmth, produced by the 
hypocaustum and the foculare, and consequently an agreeable 
place for perfuming, anointing, and all other operations after the 
sudatorium. The ancients had an astonishing number of oils, 
soaps, and perfumes, and their wash-balls seem to have had the 
general name of smegmata [soaps, no doubt j still it ought to be 
mentioned, that regular soap, sapo, is not mentioned by any author 
before Pliny, (xviii, 12, 51,) who calls it a Gallic im'ention, but 
which was also very well known to the Germans. Moreover, Pliny 
says : Galliarum inventmn rutilandis capillis, and the pilce Mattiacce, 
or German soap-balls, (Mart. xiv. 27), as also the spuma Batava 
[Id. viii. 23, 20), or caustica (Id. xiv. 26,) are everywhere mentioned 
as means for dyeing the hair, and not for purifying it. They were 
therefore rather pomades than soaps. See Beckmann, Beitr. z. 
Gesch. d. Erßnd. iv. 1. seqq. It is also very possible that when Ovid 
says (Ars Am, iii. 163) , Femi?ia canitiein Germanis inßcit herbis, and 
(Amor. i. 14) Ipsa dahas capiti mista venena tuo, nothing else is 
meant by him than such a pomade, whence its use might be ex- 
tended backward up to the time of Augustus. Comp, Boettig. 
Sah. i. p. 121, 142. B.] Among the oils, are named the ynendesiumy 
megalium, metopium, atnaraeinum, cyprinum, susinum., nardinum, 
spicatum, andjasminum ; and Heliogabalus never bathed without 
oil of saffron or crocus, which was thought most precious. [We 
might add to these many others from Pliny (xiii. 1), and among 
others rosaceum. See Oudend. on Appul. Met. x. p. 717. B. The 
nardinum, (both an oil and a pomade), made from the blossoms of 
the Indian and Arabian nard-grass, was much prized. B.] [Plin. 
H. N. xii. 12, 26, principalis in unguentis. Pallad. iv. 9, nardinum 
oleum. Ath. ii. p. 46, v. 195, x. 439, xv. 689. It was used for 
anointing the hair previous to crowning it with the garland, at 
festive symposiums. Hor. Od. ii. 11, 16: Assyriaque nardo potamus 
uncti. Petron. 78 : nardi ampidla. Salmas. Exerdtt. ad Sol. p. 750. 
Pompon. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 21, distinguishes between those unguents 
quihis unguimur vohiptatis causa and valetudinis causa. Isidor. iv. 
12, mentions, anetinum, cerotum, and other sorts. The ceroma, as 
it was called, was only used at gymnastic exercises. Mart. vii. 32, 
V. 65. Piin. H. N. xxviii. 4, 13.] We hear also of nitre and 
aphronitum in the baths. To these were added all kinds of odo- 
riferous powders, called diapasmata. The cyprium was not only a 
perfume, but was supposed to put a stop to further perspiration, 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 379 

and its name has been retained to the present day. [ Unguentarii 
and unguentarice, dealers in perfume^ are often mentioned. Orell. 
2988, 4300. Cic. de Off. x. 42. m^jropolcB.'] 

Persons of lower condition sometimes used, instead of soap, 
meal of lupins, called lomentum, which, with common meal, is still 
used in the north of England, while the rich carried their own most 
precious unguents to the thermae in phials of alabaster, gold, and 
glass, \_ä\dßaaTpoL, onyches, conchce. Salmas. Kvercitt. p. 316,] which 
were of such common use, both in ordinary life and at funerals, 
that they have very frequently been found in modern times, when 
they acquired the name of lachrymatories, from a mistaken notion 
concerning their original destination. 

Pliny mentions that in the apodyterium, or tepidarium, was the 
elceothesia, or place for anointing, called also in Latin unctorium, 
where persons, called from their office, were employed. It is to be 
supposed that in the great thermae of the capital thia aktnrri^pwvy 
or unctorium, was a separate chamber. A verse of Lucilius, quoted 
by Green in his work De Rusticatione Rojnanorum, describes the 
operations which took place in this apartment : 

Scabor, suppilor, desquamor, pumicor, ornor, 
Expilor, pingor. 

The third apartment, 1 2, for the use of those who frequented 
the hot baths, is entered by a door opening from the tepidarium, 
which closed by its own weight, and it is probable was generally 
shut, to prevent the admission of cold or less heated air. Vitruvius 
says that the laconicum and sudatorium ought to join the tepida- 
rium ; and that, when these were separate rooms, they were entered 
by two doors from the apodyterium. 

This chamber, though not decorated with all the art displayed 
in the tepidarium, possibly because the constant ascent of steam 
would have destroyed the colours of the ceiling or vault, was, never- 
theless, delicately ornamented with mouldings of stucco, which have 
an elegant and beautiful effect. [Comp. Zahn, Ornamente und Gen. 
t. 94. B.] Not only is the pavement suspended in the manner 
recommended by Vitruvius, but the walls are so constructed, that 
a column of heated air encloses the apartment on all sides. 

This is not effected by flues, but by one universal flue, formed 
by a lining of bricks or tiles, strongly connected with the outer 
wall by cramps of iron, yet distant about four inches from it, so 
as to leave a space by which the hot air might ascend from the 
furnace, and increase, almost equally, the temperature of the whole 
room. 

Some parts of the casing having fallen, the whole of this 



380 THE BATHS. [Exctmsus I. 

admirable contrivance is now apparent, and the payement having, in 
some places, been forced in by the fall of some part of the vault, 
the method of suspending it was, at the period of the excavation, 
sufficiently visible. [Proc. Dig. viii. 2, 13 : Hiherus halnearia fedt 
secundum parietem commimem. Non licet autem tttbulos habere ad- 
motos ad parietem commwiem,sicuti nee parietem quidem super pari- 
etem communem. De tubulis eo amplius hoc juris est, quod per eos 
fiamma torretur paries. Sen. Ep. 90. Qucedam nostra demum 
m,emoria scimus — ut suspensuras balneorum et impressos parietibus 
ttibos, per quos circumfunderetur color, qui ima simul et suinma fove- 
ret cequaliter.'] 

It will be observed that scarcely anything was placed in sym- 
metry with the centre ; the circular window in the alcove, with its 
ornamental dolphins in stucco, being to the left, and the two side- 
windows in the vault being neither equal in size nor situation. 

The most striking object in the apartment is the labrum, 14, 
placed in the centre of the alcove, which forms one extremity of 
the caldarium, as the hot-water bath, alveus, does the other. This 
consists in a vase or tazza of white marble, not less than eight feet in 
diameter, and internally, not more than eight inches in depth. In 
the centre is a projection, or umbo, rising from the bottom, in the 
middle of which a brass tube threw up the water, which, judging 
from the customary process in an oriental bath, was probably cold, 
or as nearly so as was judged expedient for pouring upon the head 
of the bather before he quitted this heated atmosphere. 

The labrum was presented to the thermae of Pompeii by a 
private individual, whose name, together with the value, is in- 
scribed in letters of bronze, yet remaining on the lip of the basin. 
CN . MELISS^.O . CN . F . APRO . M . STAIO . M . F . 
RVFO . II . VIR . ITER . ID . LABRUM . EX . D . D . EX . 
P . I . F . C . CONSTAT . HSP . (sic!) . C . L . [The au- 
thor is here quite mistaken. The inscription contains nothing 
at all about a gift, and it is not even copied correctly. Bechi, 
who copied it from the rim of the labrum, gives it as follows, 
(comp. Orelli, Liscr., n. 3277) : CN . MELISS^O . CN . F . 
APRO . M . STAIO . M . F . RVFO . II . VIR . ITER . ID . 
LABRVM . EX . D . D . EX . P . P . F . C . CONSTAT . H . 
S . Iq . C . C . L. Still Bechi's explanation — Cn. Melissceo, On. 
ßlio, Apro, M. Staio, M. filio, Rufo duumviris iterum jure dicundo 
labrum ex decurionum decreto ex pecunia publico faciendum curarunt. 
Constat. U.S. Iq CCL., though correct in the sense, is not gram- 
matical. B.] The position of this labrum seems in some respects to 
accord with the instructions given by Vitruvius for the construction 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 381 

of such a vase : Scholas autem lahrorum ita ßeri oportet spatiosas, 
id, cum priores oceupaverint loca, circumspectantes reliqui recte stare 
possint. Vitr. v. 10. He says also : Lahrum sub lumine faciendum 
videtur ne stantes circum suis umbris obscurent lucem. Even this, as 
applied to our labrum, is not very intelligible. [On the contrary, 
every thing agrees with Vitruvius, for above the labrum is a wide 
opening, through which the light fell in, and this is the lumen. B.] 

Andreas Baccius, who has written and collected much of what 
the ancients have left us on the subject of baths, says that some 
labra existed made of glass ; and he very sensibly concludes, that 
all the great tazze of Rome, like that at present on the Quirinal, 
were originally labra of the public or private baths of the city. 
Ficoroni mentions labra in Rome of basalt, granite, porphyry, and 
alabaster, and observes that many of these had a lion's head in the 
centre. Mention is also made of the labrum in a private bath by 
Cicero, in a letter to his wife Terentia : Labrum si non est in balneo, 
fac ut sit. [Bechi too mentions many antique labra, and so also 
Stratico. B.] \_Mus. Borb. iv. 28, contains a beautiful marble 
labrum.] 

The opening for the lamp, which has been formierly noticed as 
giving light, on one side to the Doric portico, and on the other to 
the caldarium, is visible above the labrum, and had, anciently, a 
convex glass to prevent the entrance of cold air from without. [In 
the apodyterium also there was a similar opening in the wall under 
the large window, which had probably a like destination. Bechi 
speaks of it as if the glass were still in existence. B.] 

From the pavement of the caldarium, which was of white tes- 
serce, with two small borders of black, bathers ascended by two 
steps, so as to sit down conveniently upon the third or marble wall, 
one foot four inches broad, which formed the brink of the vase or 
vat of hot water. Thence one step dividing the whole depth of the 
cistern, not exceeding two feet and half an inch, permitted them to 
immerse themselves by degrees in the heated fluid. The whole 
length of the cistern is fifteen feet, and the breadth four. About 
ten persons might have sat upon the marble pavement without in- 
convenience at the same moment, immersed in the hot water. It is 
evident from the shallowness of this cistern, that persons must have 
sat on the pavement in order to have been sufficiently immersed ; 
and, accordingly, the side next the north wall is constructed with 
marble, sloping like the back of a chair, in an angle well adapted 
to the support of the body in that position. Hot water entered 
this bath, 13, at one of the angles, immediately from the caldron, 9, 
which boiled on the other side of the wall. There appears to have 



382 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

been a moveable stone in the pavement, near tbis cistern, possibly 
for permitting the entrance of a column of bot air on certain 
occasions (?). 

This chamber, from the water which must have fallen on the 
pavement, and the distillation caused by the vapour from so great 
a quantity of heated liquid, must have always been wet, and must 
bave had an outlet called fusorium, to which the floor inclined. 
[Not on this account ; for the suspensurce were generally so laid. 
Vitr. V. 10, 2. Suspensur<B caldariorum ita sunt faciendcBj uti pritmwi 
sesquipedahilus tegidis solum ste)matur mclinatum ad hi/pocausim, uti 
pila cum tnittatur non possit intro resistere. It was intended that 
the fire should have, by this means, a better draught. B.] Perhaps 
the opening near the hot bath served in part for this purpose. The 
floor was found much damaged, and broken in by the fall of a part 
of the arch, on its first discovery. 

The seats in this chamber were probably of wood, as the whole 
must constantly have been in a state of humid heat, which would 
have coiToded furniture of bronze, like those of Vaccula in the 
tepidarium. In that portion of the vaulted roof still remaining, are 
no fewer than four openings for the admission of light, and the 
transmission of hot air and vapour. These must have been glazed 
or closed with linen windows called vela, for it was probably pre- 
vious to that common use of glass, which evidently prevailed at 
Pompeii, that the brazen shields or circular shutters, mentioned by 
Vitruvius as hanging by chains, for the purpose of opening and 
shutting the windows of the laconicum or sudatorium, were neces- 
sary. It appears from that author, that these shields were lowered 
to open, or raised to close, the circular apertures in the roof of the 
laconicum. Over the labrum is seen one of these circular windows. 
None of these apartments could have had a cheerful light; and 
when the brazen shields were in use, the darkness must have in- 
creased with the increase of temperature. [In consequence of the 
author's false conception of the laconicum, which he shares with 
many others, he could not have formed any other judgment. Un- 
questionably these windows were glazed, and the baths were really 
dark only in ancient times, when the use of glass was either not at 
all, or but very little, known, and rimse were constantly used. B,] 
It may be supposed that in an establishment so small as this of 
Pompeii, the inner room, or caldarium, might unite in itself more 
than one of the numerous appellations in use in the Poraan capital. 

From the frigidarium, 17, a very narrow passage ran to the 
furnace, 9, upon which were placed caldrons, to the number of 
three, one above another, and, possibly, as may be gathered from an 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 383 

inspection of the ruins, placed in three columns, of three caldrons 
each (?), so that the water in the uppermost or ninth vase, nearest 
the cisterns 10 and 11, would he very nearly cold. 

The cauldron immediately ahove the flames was of course hoiling-, 
and on the water being withdrawn for use, it was contrived that an 
equal portion should replace it from the tepidarium, into which at 
the same time the frigidarium was discharged. It does not seem 
improbable, from the appearance of the place, that there were 
three columns of these caldrons at Pompeii, dependent on a single 
fire, and if so, the upper caldron of the column nearest the cistern, 
10, contained water nearly cold, and hence that was probably de- 
rived which rose in the centre of the labrum, and must have had a 
higher level. 

From one of these, or the cisterns adjoining, the circular bath, 
or natatorium, was also supplied, through tubes yet to be traced in 
the wall. 

This is the most essential part of Gell's description. Next to 
this bath, though not in any way communicating with it, was a 
second, almost the same in its arrangements, though on a smaller 
scale, and generally considered to have been the women's bath, 
(which also agrees vdth Varro, L. L. ix. 41, Sp.), so that 3 is the 
apodyterium, 2 the frigidarium, 4 the tepidarium, 5 the caldarium, 
6 the hot-water bath, and 7 the labrum. The rooms lying round 
the regular bath, which have no exits but towards the streets, and 
are not marked with figures in the sketch, were probably tabernas, 
in no way connected with the building composing the bath. 

Small as this plan may appear in comparison wdth the great 
thermae of Rome, still the discovery of it is of far more moment 
than all the other ruins existing, as here we have at least the 
necessary parts tolerably complete, and agreeing with the accounts 
given by authors. The ruins of Badenweiler, which Hirt (251) 
looked on as the main source of our knowledge about the ancient 
baths, appear very insignificant when compared with these. Next 
to the baths of Pompeii, the painting from the baths of Titus is 
perhaps of the most importance, principally because the names be- 
ing written leave no doubt about the destination of the particular 
cellae and other parts. 

Let us now compare the remains of ancient baths with each 
other, and with the accounts of Vitruvius, Pliny, Palladius, and 
others, and we shaU find the most essential parts of a Roman bath 
to be these. 

I. An apodyterium. connected perhaps with the elaeothesium and 
unctorium. 



384 



THE BATHS. 



[Excursus I. 



III. 



^(MQ^^^:^m 




•SC« 



^ Ö 



'S •& S 

«) O << 



H P^ CiJ 






^.2 b 

« SL- !? 






<<p;dft 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 385 

II. A frigidarium, or ceJla frigidaria, by which we must not 
understand, with Gell, a mere imwarmed room, but the cold bath 
itself. Pliny says in his description of the Lam^entian villa, (ii. 17, 
11) : Inde halinei eella frigidaria spatiosa et ejfusa, cujus in con- 
trariis parietihus duo haptisteriu . velut ejecta sinuantur, abunde 
capacia, si innare in proximo cogites ; and of his Tuscan villa, (v. 6, 
25) : Inde apodgterium halinei laxum et hilare excipit cella frigi- • 
daria, in quce haptisterium amplum et opacum. While then in 
Pompeii the cella frigidaria had the basin in the middle, and the 
proper cool-room, which also served as apodyterium, lay before it, 
in the former villa at least, the baptisteria were at the alcove- 
shaped ends of the frigidarium, so that what was there separated, 
17 and 18, seems here to have formed one room. But haptisterium 
may be taken to mean the same as piscina, according to Sidon. 
Ep. ii. 2 : Huic hasiliccs appendix piscina for insecus, seu, si grcecari 
mavis, haptisterium ah Oriente connectitur. 

The frigidarium in the baths of Pompeii and those of Stabise 
has just the same form : and probably the rooms which appear 
similar, in the sketch in the baths of Titus, and which Palladio 
pronounces to be temples, and Hirt laconica, are also frigidaria. 
In the baths of Constantine (Palladio, le terme de Rom. t. xiv.) 
there are six such saloons, which are declared to be baths of all 
three temperatures. 

III. The tepidarium: of this division we know least, and it 
may even be doubted whether the usual assumption that the tepid 
bath was there, be a correct one. In Pompeii, at least, in the room 
which is rightly taken to be it (n. 15), there is no apparatus for 
bathing. Pliny says (v. 6, 26) : Frigidar'ice cellce connectitur media, 
cui sol henignissime 2)r(Ssto est ; caldarics magis ; prominet enim. 
In hac tres descensiones, etc. The media can only be the tepidaria ; 
but whilst the haptisterium of the frigidarium, and the tres de- 
scensiones of the caldarium are mentioned, no labrum, nor piscina 
of the tepidarium, is named. Such a receptacle, with lukewarm 
water, was probably in the middle of the frigidarium itseK : Si 
natare latins aut tepidius velis, in area piscina est ; in proximo 
puteus, ex quo possis rursus adstringi, si pcenitecct teporis. Thus 
also in the ruins of Badenweiler, a double water-bath only seems 
to be admissible ; and if in the baths of Hippias, one of the rooms, 
perhaps the rjpkixa x^^^.i^'^ofiivog, is to pass for a tepidarium, still 
there were piscinae or descensiones only in the cold and warm bath. 
In the often-mentioned picture, it is true that there is a tepidarium 
next to the sudatio, but it cannot be seen whether there was a 
labrum in it or not. 

C C 



,886 .THE BATHS. [Excursus L 

But there are two passages in Celsus, i. 3, wliicli are most cal- 
culated to raise doubts about tbat acceptation. Commu7iia deinde 
07nnihns sunt j^ost fatigationem cihum sumpturis, uhi paullum am- 
hulaverunt, si balneufn non est, calido loco, vel in sole, vel ad ignetn 
ungi atque sudare: si est, ante omnia in tepidario residere;- deinde 
uhi paullum conquievenmt, intrare et descendere in solium. The 
second passage from c. 4, which contains the whole economy of 
the bath, is still plainer : Si in balneum xenit, sub veste primum 
paullum in tepidario insudare, ibi ungi, tum transire in calidarium : 
uhi sudarit in solium non descendere, etc. There the tepidariuni 
is a warm room, where a person sits down as in the sudatio, which 
has only a higher temperature. Those who wished to bathe must 
go into another room, the caldarium, intrare et descendere in solium. 
We may therefore assume that there was not, at least in all cases, 
a tepid bath. 

IV. The caldarium ; which was, at least in later times, the 
most important part of all. We must here, after Vitruvius and 
the Pompeian baths, make four distinct divisions ; (1) the room 
itself, sudatio ; (2) the laconicum ; (3) the labrum ; and (4) the 
basin for the hot water, or the highest degree of the warm bath. 

The whole room had suspensurse, that is, the floor rested on 
small pillars, so that underneath it the heat and even the flame 
from the fire-places might be disseminated. See Winckelm. W. ii. 
tab. iv. ; Hirt, tab. xxiv. Fig. III., and in the picture from the 
baths of Titus (p. 384). The walls were hollow, and usually the 
warmth was conveyed in pipes from the hypocausta between them, 
as we see in the baths described by Fernow. In Pompeii the 
whole space between the regular wall and the interior one was 
hollow, and without pipes, which is represented in the sketch by 
the white line running round : the same arrangement appears in 
the caldarium and tepidarium of the women's bath. 

At one end of the caldarium was the laconicum, the part most 
difficult to be explained. Schneider (385) has collected with great 
diligence the passages relating thereto, but his explanation is not 
perfectly clear, and must at least remain uncertain, as he has not 
taken into coEslderation any ancient monument, not even the 
painting from the baths of Titus, which is here of special moment, 
and which had already put Galiani on the right way. What 
Vitruvius says, (c. IV), proxiine autem introrsus e regione frigidarii 
collocetur concamerata sudatio, longitudine duplex quam latitudine, 
qu(B habeat in versiiris ex una parte Laconicum ad eundem modum, 
uti supra scriptum est, comjwsitum : ex adverso Laconici caldam 
lavationem, entirely agrees with the arrangement of the caldarium 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 387 

at Pompeii, tlioug*li we judge fit to assume that there was no regular 
laconicum there, but merely a common sudatio. In the painting, 
the cella, which is designated as concamerata sudatio, appears as a 
small cupola-shaped building, into which the flame streams above 
the floor, through a broad pipe. Underneath is to be found the 
name laconicum, and under the arch, on which two chains are 
visible, the name clipeus. Comparing with this the passage of 
Vitruvius about the clipeus (10) : medimngue Imnen in Jieynisphcerio 
relinquatur ex eoque cli/]jemn ceneum catenis pmdeat, per cvjus re- 
ductiones et demissiones perfieietur sudationis temperatura, we should 
imagine a vahe, which hung at the orifice in the middle of the 
arch, in order to allow the excess of warm air to escape ; but this 
idea does not at all agree with the painting. On the contrary, it 
seems that we must assume from this, that the laconicum was by 
no means the semicircular-shaped recess where those desirous of 
perspiring sat, but the cupola-like hypocaustum, which rose in this 
alcove above the floor, and that it was closed by the clipeus. When 
this was drawn up by the chains, or let down within, the heat and 
the flame itself streamed out more vehemently, and heightened the 
temperature of the alcove ; and perhaps we must so understand 
what Suet. Aug. 84, calls adßammam sudare, although Celsus (i. 3) 
mentions, outside of the bath too, the ungi et sudare ad ignem. 
We are further decided in assuming the laconicum to be something 
difi*erent from the alcove, where the sweaters sat, from the con- 
sideration that it seems inconceivable how this alcove could possibly 
have another temperature than the whole sweating bath, as it was 
only a part of the same, and was separated from it by no partition 
wall. But if the laconicum were placed there in the manner above 
given, then the lieut must have been gTeatest next to it. With 
this idea of the laconicum, best agrees also what Vitruvius (vii. 10) 
says about the oven for the preparation of atrameutum, which was 
also to be arranged uti laconman. Galiani, too, has taken this 
view of the subject ; probably Schneider likewise ; while Hirt, Gell, 
and Bechi, are perfectly at fault, and Stratico also as well as Marini 
misunderstand »Vitruvius. The error appears to arise from the 
word hemisphserium, which suggested to them the alcove, in which 
at Pompeii the labrum is. But Vitruvius means the cupola above 
the laconicum, as it is in the picture, and this is a hemisphserium. 
By this means everything is clear, and we see that the clipeus did 
not hang on the opening in the arch of the alcove, in order by 
opening it to moderate the temperature, but, on the contrary, 
served to let the heat confined in the laconicum stream out, and 
increase the temperature of the sudatio. 

c c .2 



388 THE BATHS. [Excüksus T. 

At Pompeii no sucli arrangement is to be found. In tlie alcove 
is the labrum already described, and on tbe use of which opinions 
are likewise divided. The explanation of Bechi, that it was de- 
signed for those who wished to take only a partial bath, does not 
seem very probable ; for the proper warm-bath, which was in the 
same apartment, was so arranged with steps, that the bather could 
sit at any depth he chose. Gell's supposition seems correct, that it 
contained cold water, into which a person plunged after the 
sweating-bath, or with w^hich he was sprinkled. 

Lastly; at the opposite end of this room was the hot-water 
bath already described. The name we should like to assign to it, 
at least in the baths of Pompeii, is alveus, and the proportions 
agree with the plans given by Vitruvius. [Dio Cass. Iv. 7, calls it 
Ko\v}xß)i9pav Oepi-wv vdaroc.'] And then what Vitruvius says, becomes 
explicable : quanta longitvdo fiierit, tertia demta latihido sit prceter 
scliolam lahri et alvei ; and in the like manner it reaches, in agree- 
ment with the same, as far as the wall. [Others falsely suppose 
labrum and alveus to be identical, and others that alveus is the 
name of warming-pipes in the walls ; or of the space round the 
labrum. Wüstemann himself understands by labrum a detached 
kettle, while alveus he takes to have been a tank or canal on the 
ground for many bathers. Labrum certainly would seem to be 
something standing high ; alveus, something low. See Auct. ad 
Her. iv. 10. in alveum descenderet.'] 

The scholce were the free spaces between the receptacles of 
water and the wall, where those who intended to bathe, or only 
visited the bath for the sake of amusement, stood or ?at. 

The water was warmed, according to Vitruvius, by erecting 
three kettles : j^nea supra hyjiocaustum tria sunt componenda, 
unum ealdariujii, altertim tepidariiim, tei'tium frlgidarium^ et ita 
collocanda^ uti ex tepidario in calde^Hum, quantum aquce caldce 
exierit, inßuat. De frigidario in tepidarium ad, eundem modum. 
This might be effected in more ways than one. The simplest 
was to place the kettles one over the other, and join them by 
means of pipes, and we thus find them in the bath discovered at 
the country-house of Diomedes at Pompeii. See Voyage pitt. de 
JVapIes, livr. 10 et 11, pi. 79 ; Feruow on Winck. ii. tab. iv. C. n. 2 ; 
although there are only two kettles there ; but we find it dififerent 
in the painting from the bath of Titus. 

There are two expressions still requiring explanation. Firstly, 
the solium is often mentioned, and by some understood to mean an 
apparatus in the caldarium, by which single persons might sit and 
take a shallow bath. Festus, 298 : Alvei quoque lavandi gratia 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 389 

mstituti, quo singuli descendunt, (solla) solia dicimtur. See Martial, 
ii, 42. Hence also Celsus sajs, ii. 17, and elsewhere, in solio desi- 
dendum est. [The magnificence of these solia is shown by Plinj, 
H. N. xxxiii. 12, 54 : femince laventur et nisi aryentea solia fastidiant. 
The sella halnearis, in Pauli, in. 6, 83, is doubtless the same thing.] 
See Burmaun, ad Petron. 73. 

Martial's Epig. ix. 76, has also caused offence : 

Non silice duro structilive csemento, 

Nee latere coeto, quo Semiramis longam 

Babylona cinxit, Tucca bahieum fecit ; 

Sed strage nemorum pineaque compage, 

Ut navigare Tucca balneo possit. 

Idem beatas lautus exstniit thermas 

De marmore omni, quod Carystos invenit, 

Quod Phrygia Synnas, Afra quod Nomas mittit, 

Et quod vireuti fonte lavit Eiu-otas. 

Sed ligna desunt ; subjiee balneum thermis. 

[In Orell. Ins. 4326, halnea and thermce are again opposed.] 

To the question, how is the balneum distinguished from the 
thermce? people are accustomed to answer, that balneum means 
the cold bath, or the cellafrigidaria, and thermce, the heated rooms. 
Still this seems quite inadmissible ; for balneum is especially used 
of the warm bath in opposition to the cold. Cels. i. 1 : Prodest 
etiam interdum balneo, interdum aquis frigidis uti ; modo ungi, modo 
id ipsum negligere. iii. 24 : Per omne tempus ntendmn est exercitatione, 
fricatione et, si hyems est, balneo ; si cestas, frigidis natationibus. In 
the painting there is a particular cella by the side of the sudatio, 
with the inscription balneum ; unquestionably a warm bath, for the 
cella frigidaria is given in addition behind the tepidarium. We 
• may therefore suppose that common warm-baths are to be under- 
stood. Such a bath, into which warm water only was conducted, 
might very suitably have been of wood ; not so thermae, which 
presupposed a tepidarium and caldarium, and must have had 
hypocausta. \_Balneum, or lavatrina, was originally the proper 
term for bath, which it always continued to be, in a general sense ; 
Charis. i. 12. p. 76 : Balneum veteres dixerunt sive balineum, nihil 
enim differt ptiblicum ä privatis in publicis autem femin. gen. et 
quidem nu7nero semper plurali frequenter balneas et balineas, nee 
immerito, nain 2}arsimomce causa uno igne duplex balineum calfacie" 
bant. Varro, L. L. ix. 68. Later, when those grand institutions, 
resembling the Greek gymnasiums, sprung up, they were always 
provided with baths, and were thence called thermcB ; whilst the 
name balneum and balnea denoted, in a narrower sense, the regular 
bathing establishments, whether public, {^ublicce balnece, Varro), 



390 THE BATHS. [Excursus L 

as at Pompeii, or small domestic bath-rooms. Varro, L. L. ix. 68 ; 
domi Slice quisque iibi lavatur halnetmi dixerunt. There were num- 
bers of public balnea in every region of Rome, whilst there were 
but few thermce. See Charicles, translated by Metcalf, p. 123, re- 
specting the latter. In Dio Cass. liii. 27 ; Ixviii. 15, the therynce are 
also called gymnasia ; gymnastic exercises being often practised in 
them, particularly in winter. Orell. 2591 :pila lusithermis Trajani, 
thermis AgrippcB.^ 

The remaining arrangements and decorations of the baths are, 
even in Pompeii, elegant ; yet there the ornaments appear exceed- 
iugly mean, compared with the splendour lavished on establish- 
ments of this sort at Rome, as may be best conceived from the 
eighty-sixth letter of Seneca, who after describing the simplicity 
in the bath of the great Scipio, says : At nunc quis est, qui siclavari 
sustinent : pauper sibi videtur ac sordidus, nisi jJarietes magnis et 
pretiosis wbibus refulset'unt ; nisi Alexandrina marmora Numidicis 
crustis distincta mnt; nisi illis undique operosa et in picturce modum 
variata camera ; nisi Thasius lapis, quondam varum in aliquo specta- 
culutn templo, pisciiias nostras circtimdedit, in quas midta sudatione 
corpora exinanita demittimus ; nisi aquam argentea epistomia fude- 
runt. Et adhuc plebeias fistulas loquor : quid cum ad balnea libeHi- 
norum pervenero ? Quantum statuarum ! quantum columnarum 
nihil sustinentium, sed in ornamentum positarum, impensce causa ! 
quantum aquarum per gradus cum fragore labentium ! Eo delida- 
rum pei'venimus, ut nisi gemmas calcare nolimus. In order that the 
temperature of the water might always continue the same, warm 
water constantly flowed in : recens semper velut ex calido fonte 
currebat. Not less magnificent is the balneum Etrusci described 
by Stat. Silv. i. 5, of whicli he says (v. 47) : 

Nil ibi plebeium : imsquam Tcmesea notabis 
JEra, sed argento felix propellitur unda, 
Argentoque cadit, labrisque nitentibus intrat. 

What Seneca says of the camera is more clearly expressed by 
Statius ; vario fastigia vitro in species animosque nitent. It was 
m«saic in glass ; also mentioned by Pliny, xxxvi. 25, 64. Compare 
the description of the same bath in Mart. vi. 42, and Lucian's bath 
of Hippias. 

In addition to other things, the greatpublicthermsewere well sup- 
plied with amusements of all sorts. Even libraries were introduced 
into them ; and there is no great bath, from the lime of Agrippato 
Constantine, in which a place was not assigned to them in the plan. 
jN^evertheless, corroborations from ancient writers are still wanting ; 
for, with the exception of a passage of Vopiscus, in the life of 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 391 

Probus (2), Usus aittem sum — prcecipue libris ex hihliotlieca TJlpia, 
cetate tnea in th^rmis Diocletiams, we do not remember any other 
mention of it. Hirt explains the words of Seneca, De tranq. 
an. 9 : Jam enim inter halnearia et thermas hihliotlieca quoqne ut 
necessarium donius mmamentum expolitu?', thus : ' It was considered 
as a necessary ornament to have libraries between the bathing 
saloons and thermae ; ' but this is onl}^ a new proof of great 
carelessness j for it evidently means that libraries served no longer 
for literary wants only, but it was the fashion to have them in the 
house, and they were considered quite as necessary appendages as 
the bath. 

Little is known of the public baths of Rome in the time of 
Gallus ; it was not till some years afterwards that Agrippa built his 
thermae, together with the Pantheon, and these were followed by 
several grand buildings. Till that time, the baths most likely be- 
longed to private speculators, and the bathers had to pay ; hence 
they who wished to curry favour with the people, would sometimes, 
in addition to other amusements offer a free use of the baths. So 
Dio Cass, relates of Faustus (xxxvii. 51) : rd re Xov-rpa kcu tXamv 
TrpoiKci avroiQ -apkax^i' '• of Agrippa, who as sedile granted baths gTatis 
all the year through to men and women (xlix. 43) ; and of Augustus, 
who returning from Germany, n^ ci^ixi^ wpoXKa rd re Xov-pa Kal 
Tovg Kovpeag rijv ijfikpav siceivijv Tvapkn-^iv. Soon after, Agl'ippa left 
his thermae to the people, wrrre rrpolica av-rovg XoiKrSaL. Dio Cass, 
liv. 29. [Speaking of what Agrippa did for the baths at Eome, 
Pliny says (xxxvi. 15, 24), adjicit ipse in cedilitatis sz(cb coimnemora-- 
tione fjratidta prcehita halineas centum septuaginta, quce nunc Momce 
ad infinitum auxere numerum. The number of these halnea publica 
(Orell. 643 ; Cic. p. Coel. '2Q ; Suet. Oct. 94) was greatly increased 
by the emperors. Thus Alex. Severus, according to Lamprid, 38, 
halnea omnibus regionihus addidit, nam hodieque multa dicuntur 
Alexa?idn.~\ But even after the Nerojiiance and Titince were added 
to these, the private establishments for bathing still remained to 
satisfy the wants in this respect. Martial mentions four of these, 
halnea quatuor (v. 70, 4). They are probably those named (ii. 14, 11) : 

Nee Fortimati spernit, nee balnea Fausti, 
Nee G-rylli tenebras, ^oliamque Lupi. 
Nam thermis iterumque, iterumque, iterunique lavatur ; 

consequently four times. See above. Besides these, there is the 
bath of Etruscus, and the impudici halnea Tigcllini, iii. 20, 16. But 
triplices thermcs (x. 51, 12) probably mean the three above-men- 
tioned establishments ; for although the thermce Agrippce were burnt 
down under Titus (Dio Cass. Ixvi. 24) ; yet it is scarcely credible 



392 THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

that Hadrian was the first to undertake to restore them (Spart. 
Hadr. 29) ; and Martial expressly mentions them, iii. 20, 15 : Titine 
thermis an lavatur AgrippcB F Wliether the TrpoT/c« 'KoveaOai con- 
tinued in these public baths, cannot be determined ; only it must 
appear strange, that everywhere the quadrans is mentioned, though 
nowhere the gratis lavare. [Yet in Orelli, 3326, we read lavationeni 
ex sua pecimia gratuitam in peipettmm dedit ; also 3325, a legacy is 
left for a similar purpose : comp. 3772.] Hor. Sat. i. 3, 137 ; Mart, 
iii. 30, 4 ; viii. 42 ; Juven. tI. 447 ; ii. 152 ; Sen. Epist. 86, balneum 
res qiiadrantaria. Are we always to refer this to the balnea meri- 
toi'ia, or was it only the lowest price of admission for the commoner 
class, or was this trifle paid in the public baths also, in order to 
cover the necessary expenses ? It is erroneously concluded from 
Juvenal (vi. 47), that the women paid nothing; but the above-cited 
passage from Dio Cassius sufRciently contradicts this notion. Most 
probably, Roman matrons did not visit such public baths where the 
quadrans was paid, and Juvenal wishes to describe the customs of 
the men. How general such balnea meritoria were, not only in 
Rome, but elsewhere in Italy also, is seen from Plin. Epist. ii. 
17, 26. 

As far as regards bathing, it is probable that in more ancient 
times the use of the cold-water bath was the prevailing one. Hence 
also Philematium, in Plaut. Mostel. i. 3, 1, says : 

Jam pridem, ecastor, frigida non lavi magis lubenter, 
Nee quom me melius, mea Scapha, rear esse defsecatam : 

and persons of simple habits of life, such as the elder Pliny, adhered 
to this (Pliny, Epist.iii.^, 11) : Post solimi plerumque fngida lava- 
batur. Comp. vi. 16, 5. Nevertheless, they had caldaria then also, 
as Seneca mentions in the case of Scipio himself, but had not yet 
begun to think about a temperature, concerning which Seneca says : 
Similis iticendio, adeo quidem, ut convictum in *aliquo scelere servuni 
vivum lavari oporteat. Nihil tnihi videtur jam interesse, ardeat bal- 
neum, an caleat This seems to be a little oratorical exaggeration, 
though Celsus (i. 3) mentions a fervens balneum, and Trimalchio 
says, in Petron. 72, Conjiciamus nos in balneum. Sic calet, tanquam 
furmis. Perspiration and appetite, which earlier generations ob- 
tained by corporeal exertion, and agricultural labour, were attained 
by a later race, that lived for the most part in idle inactivity, by 
means of sudatoria and hot baths. Thus Columella judged of his 
time ; and after mentioning a Cincinnatus, Fabricius, and Curius 
D entat us, complains : Omnes enim patresfamilics falce et aratro re- 
Metis intra murum correpsimus, et in circis potius ac theatris, quam in 
segetibus et vinetis manus movemus. Mox deinde, ut apte veniamus ad 



Scene VII.] THE BATHS. 393 

ganeas, quotidianam cruditatem laeonicis excoquimus, et exsucto su~ 
dore sitim qucerimus, noctesque libidinihus et ehrietatihus, dies ludo vel 
somno cmisumimus, ac nostnetijjsos ducimus fortunatos, quod nee orie^i- 
tem solem vidimus, nee oecidentem. Comp. Juven. i. 143 ; Sen. Epist. 
51. They who desired to use the hath through all degrees of tem- 
perature, sought first to give their hody the preparation which was 
considered necessary, by some sort of lighter gymnastics, hall-play, 
haltei-es, and the like ; and the baths were always provided with 
rooms suitable for this pui-pose. On the arrival of the hour for 
opening the thermas, a signal was given with a hell^ as we see 
from Mart. xiv. 163, where, under the Lemma tintinnahulum, he 



Redde pilam : sonat ses thermaram : ludere pergis ? 
Virgine vis sola lotus abire domum. 

Such a person betook himself, most probably, into the tepidarium, 
in order not to be exposed suddenly to the heat of the caldarium, 
where they were anointed with oil, as Celsus expressly says ; and it 
is probable that this was the place generally assigned to that opera- 
tion, although we read also of special unctoria. It is strange that 
in the Tuscum of Pliny, where there was a cella media or tepidaria, 
no imctorium is mentioned, as is the case in the Laurens, where, on 
the other hand, there seems to have been no tepidarium. The 
anointing with oil took place both before and after the bath, and 
even after they had already stepped into the bath, they sometimes 
left it again, to be anointed a second time, after which they again 
betook themselves to the bath. Celsus, i. 3. 

They took the oil with them to the bath (or rather, the slave 
carried it), as well as the strigiles and lintea to dry themselves. 
Hence Varro says {R. R. i. 55, 4) : (Olea) dominum in balnea seqw- 
tur. Though the simplicity of earlier times was content with the 
pure oil only, this at a later period was changed for costly salves, of 
which we have already spoken. No doubt people anointed them- 
selves at other times besides at the bath, in order to reek of per- 
fume the whole day through. Sen. Epist. 86 : Rarum est sumei'e 
umjuentmn, 7ii his dieterque renovetur, ne evanescat in corpore. Quid 
quod odore, tittquam suo, gloriantur. See Boettig. Sah. i. 146 ; and 
concerning he alahastra, his Die Aldobrand Hochz. 47. [Even the 
clothes were anointed with aromatic oils, Juv. iii. 263 : Jam lavat 
et pleno componit lintea gutto. Mart. viii. 3, 10 ; Clem. Alex. Rcedag. 
ii. 8, p. 207.] ■ 

The strigiles, or scrapers, are known to us from the gymnasia. 
In the baths they were used for scraping away oil and impurities 
from the skin [defricare~\. In the Mus. Borh. we have a whole 



394 



THE BATHS. 



[Excursus I. 



bathing apparatus, consisting of four strigiles, an unguentarwm, for 
the form of which the name ampulla olearia (cunpuUce cosmiance^ 
Mart. iii. 82, 26 ; xiv. 110), seems tobe very suitable, and ?i patera, 
with handle, or by whatever name this pan-like utensil is to be 
called, an engraving of which follows. All these utensils hung on a 




ring, which could be opened, to let them be taken off, and bring to 
mind the passage of Appuleius, Florid, ii. 9, 34, where we read of 
Hippias : Qui inayno in catuprcedicavit fahricatam sihimet ampullani 
quoque oleariarn, quam gestahat, lenticidari forma, tereti arnhitu, pres- 
sida rotunditate ; juxtaque honestam strigilectdam, recta fastiyatione 
clausal(B,ßexa tubtdatione ligidce, utet ipsa in manu capulo motaretur, 
et sudor ex ea rivulo laheretur. Thus also, just after, he connects 
both : strigilem et ampullam., coiteraque hahiei uiensilia nundinis mer- 
cari. [Comp. Suet. Oct. 80; Juv. iii. 262.] The description of the 
strigiles quite agrees with the form of those at Pompeii, and that 
in the painting from the baths of Titus ; for they all have a hollow, 
in which, when scraped over the body, sweat, oil, or water collected, 
and ran off as it were by a gutter. Boettiger supposes that the 



Scene VIT.] THE BATHS. 395 

strigiles of the athletce were different from those used at the bath, 
which, however, cannot easily be shown to have been the case from 
the existing monuments. 

The third utensil is explained to be a vas potorium, because it 
was customary after the bath os calida, or frigida fovere (Celsus, i. 
3), and frequently. If we compare what the parasite (in Plaut. 
Fers. i. 3, 43) says : 

Cynica esse e gente oportet parasitum probe : 
AmpuUam, strigiles, scaphium, soceos, pallium, 
Marsupium habeat; 
we might perhaps apply the name scaphium thereto, though we 
gather nothing from thence respecting its use. 

To the bath-utensils belong, lasth'-, the lintea, the linen cloths 
for drying with. That linen ones only were used for this purpose, 
has been shown by Becker {Nachträge zum Augustetim, 4-5), and the 
use by Trimalchio (in Petron. 28) of woollen cloths for that purpose, 
is an eccentricity. So also in Appul. 31et. i. 17, 72 : Ac simid ex 
promtuario oleum unctui et lintea tersui et ccetera huic eidem usui 
prof er ociter, et hospitem meum produc ad proximas halneas ; Plaut. 
Cm'c, iv. 4, 22, linteumque extersui. These, and not cloths, are meant 
by Martial, xiv. 51 : 

Pergamus has misit, curvo destringere ferro : 
Non tarn ssepe teret lintea fuUo tibi. 

After this process was over, they passed into the caldarium, and 
took their place on the seats that ran up towards the wall in the 
manner of steps, probably by degrees higher and nearer to the laco- 
nicum, then again farther off, according to the degree of heat 
desired. After having succeeded in causing perspiration, they 
stepped either into the hot-water bath, or got themselve's sprinkled 
with water, generally perhaps cold, or retired immediately into the 
frigidarium, in order to brace the relaxed skin by the cold bath, 
Petron, 28 : Itaque intravimus balneum, et sudore calefacti mome^ito 
te7nporis ad frigidam eximus, where Erhard cites Sidon, Carm, 19 : 
Intrate algentes post balnea torrida fluctus, 
Ut solidet calidam frigore lympha cutem. 
So Martial, vi, 42, 16 : 

Eitus si placeant tibi Laconum 

Contentus potes arido vapore 

Criida Virgine Martiave mergi. 

This manner of bathing was of course not always pursued 

throughout, many contenting themselves with the cold, others with 

the warm-bath. The women, even the noblest of them, visited the 

public baths as well as the men. [No doubt they had separate 



396 • THE BATHS. [Excursus I. 

rooms. Varro, L. L. ix. 68 ; Orell, 3324, hal. virilia and hal. mulieh-e. 
See above.] This we see from the narrative of Alia, the mother of 
Octavian, who, after the fabulous rencontre in the temple of Apollo, 
had borne on her person ever after the indelible mark of a serpent : 
adeo lit mox publicis halneis perpetuo ahstinuerit. This led afterwards 
to the gross immorality of men and women bathiug- together, often 
alluded to by Juvenal and Martial ; but we must not believe that 
this impropriety was general. On the contrary, they were no doubt 
impudicce midieres who did so, the number of whom at Rome was 
very great. Hence Quinctilian says, Inst. v. 9 : Signum est adidtercB, 
lavari cum viris ; but still he could not have been living at the 
time when this licentiousness was interdicted ; for Hadrian was the 
first to put an end to the disorder, though only for a brief period. 
Dio Cass. Ixix. 8. Spartian. Hadr. 18 : Lavacra pro sexihus sepa- 
ravit. The renewal afterwards of these interdicts shows that the 
evil could not be eradicated. [Capit. M. Ant. Phil. 23 ; Lamprid. Sev. 
Alex. 24. Heliogabalus actually allowed it; Lamprid. Heliog. 31.] 
The hour for bathing was, as is well known, that preceding din- 
ner-time, but, like that, it varied partly on account of the different 
length of the hours of the day, partly because persons much engaged 
in business could not spare time for repose so easily as those who 
were idle. Pliny says of Spurinna, Ep. iii, 1, 8 : Uhi liora halinei 
nuntiata est — est autem Jiieme nona^ cestate octava — in sole, si caret 
ve)ito, mnbulat nudus. On the contrar}^, we have in Mart. iii. 36 : 

Lassus ut in thermas decima, vel serins, hora 
Te sequar Agrippse, cum laver ipse Titi ; 

and X. 70, 13, Bcdnea post decimam lasso petuntur. We have there- 
fore only to consider which hour was the most usual. This point 
has been treated of at length by Salmas. ad Spartian. Hadr. 22 ; 
Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 25 ; Vopisc. Florian. 6 ; but the result he arrives 
at on the passage of Lampridius, Tliermce apud veteres nan ante 
nonam aperiehantur, cannot possibly be considered correct. It is 
true that the most usual hour for bathing was the eighth, as is cor- 
roborated by many passages, which need not be repeated ; but it is 
also evident that persons bathed earlier too, and this was not only 
the case with the private baths, but the thermae also were open. 
Mart. X. 48 : 

Nimciat octaram Pharise sua turba juvencse, 
Et pilata redit jamque subitque cohors. 

Temperat hgec thermas ; nimios prior hura vapores 
Halat, et immodico sexta Nerone calet. 

From which we certainly see that persons might bathe in the public 
baths at the seventh and even at the sixth houi\ Moreover, Juvenal, 



Scene VIL] THE BATHS. 397 

xi. 205, cannot be otherwise understood : Jam nunc in balnea salva 
Fronte licet vadas, quamquam, solida liora stqiersit Ad sextam ; and 
just as unequivocal are the words of Vitruvius, v. 10: maxima tempus 
lavandi a meridiano ad vesperum est constitutum. When therefore 
Spartian says of Hadrian (c. 22) : Ante horam octavam in publico 
nenmiem nisi cegi'uin lavari p)o.ssus est, this was nothing but a new 
arrangement, and shows that the matter was differently arranged 
before. At a later period the time of bathing was extended to night- 
time also. Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 24: Addidit et oleum luminibus tlier- 
ma?mm, quum antea non ante auroram paterent, et ante solis occasum 
clauderenttir. A remarkable passage, if the reading non ante auro- 
ram were to be relied on ; but it appears strange that before the 
time of Alexander the thermge in Rome w^ere shut after sunset, 
whilst the lamps discovered in Pompeii, and the traces of smoke in 
the hollows made for them, establish the fact, that people bathed 
by lamp-light. Tacitus again restricted the time to the length of 
the day. Vopisc. Tac. 10 : Thermas omnes ante luccrnam claudi 
jussit, ne quid per noctem seditionis oriretur. But probably this did 
not continue long in force, and later we find a certain sum allotted 
to defray the cost of lighting. Cod. Justin, viii. 12, 19 : Quia plu- 
rimcB domus cum officinis suis in porticihus Zeuxippi esse memorantur, 
reditus memoratorum locorum pro quantitate quce placuit ad prcebenda 
luminaria et cedißcia ac tecta reparanda regies liujus urbis lavacro 
sine aliqua jubemus excusatione conferri. In the relief first commu- 
nicated by Mercurialis, the bathing is evidently represented as 
going on at night-time, for above the labrum, a lucerna trimyxos 
burns on the wall. [Liban. Oi-at. xxii. t. ii. p. 3.] 

The baths became by degrees places of the most foolish de- 
bauchery ; and although what is related by Suetonius of Caligula, 
c. 37, Commentus novum balnearum usum, portentosissima genera cibo- 
rum atque cccnarum^ id calidis frigidisque unguentis lavaretur, etc., 
and by Lampridius of Heliogabalus, c. 19, Hie non nisi unguento 
nobili aut croco piscinis infectis natavit, may be reckoned among the 
particular follies of these foolish persons, still this much is certain, 
that even without these, there was a most inordinate display of 
luxury at these places. [Orell. Inscr. 4816 : 

Balnea, vina, Venus, corrumpunt corpora nostra.] 
Especially was this the case with the ladies, as, for instance, the 
women of Nero used to bathe in asses' milk. See Boettig. Sab. 
i. 48. 



EXCUESUS IL SCENE VII. 



THE GAME OF BALL AND OTHEE GYMNASTIC 
EXEECISES. 

THE daily bath, and previous to it strong exercise, for the pur- 
pose of causing pei'spiration, were inseparable, in the minds of 
the Romans, from the idea of a regular and healthy mode of life. 
They had a multitude of exercises, more or less severe, which were 
regularly -gone through every day before the bath, thus rendering 
the body strong and active, and exciting a greater appetite for the 
meal that was to follow. [The exereitatio preceded the bath. Mart, 
xiv. 163 ; Hor. Sai. i. 6, 125 : 

Ast ubi me fessum sol acrior ire lavatum 
Admonuit, fugio campum lusumque trigonem. 

Lamprid. Sev. Alex. 30. See below.] 

Of course these exeröises were confined to the male sex, as 
gymnastics were considered unbecoming and indecent for women 
(Mart. vii. 67, 4 ; Juven. vi. 216, 419), and in Greece the Spartan 
unfeminineness {lihidinosm Lncedcemonis ind(s&trce, Mart. iv. 55, 6), 
adbrded great cause for ridicule. See Aristoph, Lysistr. 81 [Plato, 
de Leg. vii. 12, p. 806] ; although Propert. iii. 14, and Ovid. Jfer.xyi. 
149, for reasons easily understood, dwell with pleasure on this vir- 
ginea jytdcsstra. 

These antique gymnastics, or rather those of the Eomans, which 
will alone form the subject of our present inquiry, differed in many 
respects from those of modern times, in which they are confined to 
the period of youth. In Rome, on the contrary, there was not the 
slightest idea of impropriety when the consul or triumphator, the 
world-ruling Caesar himself, sought in the game of ball, or other 
kinds of gymnastics, an exertion wholesome for both body and mind ; 
and they who omitted such exercises were accused of indolence. 
Suetonius thus characterises Augustus' increasing attachment to 
ease : Exercitationescamjoestres equorum et armorum statimjjostcivilia 
bella omisit, et ad pilam j^rimo follicidumque transiit: mox nihil aliud 
quam vectabatur et deamhulahat. Aug. 83. [ Val. Max. viii. 8, 2, says 
of the famous Q. Mucius Scsevola, Augur : optime pila lusisse tra- 
ditur. Lamprid. Sev. Alex. 30.] No other passages need be adduced, 
for of all the men of consequence at Rome, few only (as Cicero, pro 
Arch. 6) formed exceptions to the general rule. 



Scene VII.] THE GAME OF BALL, &c. 399 

One of the most favourite exercises for 3'oung and old, tlie 
advantages of which had been extolled hy Galen in a treatise -ipi 
fiiKpag (Tiaioac, was the game of ball, which, from its frequent men- 
tion, and the various ways of playing it, deserves a particular expo- 
sition. The passages referring to it will not, however, admit of our 
arriving at a distinct idea of the method of play, as is the case in 
most descriptions of such matters, which must have been supposed 
to have been known to contemporaries. [See Sidon, Apoll. Ep. v. 
17, ii. 9. Adults in Italy frequently play at ball now.] 

Roman authors mention numerous varieties of the game of ball, 
as pila simply, follis or folliculus, trigon, paganica, liarpastwn, spar- 
siva, in addition to which we have the expressions, datatim, expidsim, 
raptim lude7'e\ geminare, revocare, reddere pilam. [Comp. "Poll. ix. 
104.] Bat it seems that we can only admit of three different kinds 
of ball ; , pila, in the more confined sense, the small regular ball, 
which however might be harder, or more elastic, for different kinds 
of play ; follis, the great hallon, as the name indicates, merely filled 
with air (like our foot-ball), and paganica. Concerning the use of 
the last we have the least information ; Martial mentions it only in 
two passages, vii, 32 : 

Non pila, non follis, non te paganica thermis 
Praeparat, aut nudi stipitis ictus hebes. 

and xiv. 45 : 

Hsec quae difficili target paganica pluma, 
Folle minus laxa est, et minus arta pila. 

As the paganica is opposed in both places to the follis and the pila, 
and no fourth kind is mentioned in addition to them, we must sup- 
pose that one or other of these three balls was used in all varieties 
of the game. -The words paganica, folle minus laxa, 7ninus aHa 
pila, are incorrectly explained by Kader and Mercurialis, as applying 
to the contents of the ball. The use of both adjectives leaves no 
doubt that the size of the ball is spoken of, and in this respect it 
stood between the follis and pila. No doubt it also so far differed 
from the former, that it was stuffed with feathers, and was conse- 
quently somewhat heavier ; this is all that we know about it. The 
poet gives no hint concerning the origin of the name, nor about the 
game for which it was used. On an intaglio in Beger ( Tlies. Brand. 
139), a naked male figure sits holding in each hand a ball, supposed 
to be the paganica, because apparently too small for the follis, and 
too large for the pila, for they are not clasped within the hand. 
But this is evidently a very insecure argument, and, as regards the 
game, nothing would follow from it. 

The follis, the great but light ball or ballon, was struck by the 



400 THE GAME OF BALL, [Excursus IL 

fist or arm. It is uncertain whether the words of Trachalio, in 
Plant. Rud. iii, .4, 16, Extetnplo, herds, ego te follem pugillatorium 
faciam, et pendentem incursaho pugnis, refer to this ; for a distended 
skin may also be understood, by which the pugiles practised them- 
selveS; as the gladiatores did with a post. If we may trust the copy 
given by Mercurialis (de Arte Gymnast.) of a coin of Gordian III., 
the right arm was sometimes equipped with a kind of glove, to 
assist in striking. The game did not require any very severe exer- 
tion, on which account Martial (xiv. 47) says : 

Ite procul juvenes ; mitis mihi convenit setas : 
Folle decet pueros ludere, folle senes. 

The diminutive folliculus is sometimes used, but there is not 
sufficient ground for supposing it to have been the paganica ; pila 
and foUis, however, denote in general the whole science of sphae- 
ristic, and therefore included the paganica, as being intermediate 
between them. 

The other games were all played with the pila, and whenever 
foUis and paganica are not expressly designated, we must always 
understand the small ball. Hence Martial, in the Apophoretce, has 
no particular epigram upon it ; for it is already meant imder the 
trigon and hcüpastum. The special mention of both these appears 
to be grounded on the difference of the games, of which we shall 
hereafter speak. 

Before we proceed to discuss the regular games, the expressions 
dutatim and expidsim ludere must be explained. By the first seems 
to be meant the most simple use of the pila, in which two persons 
opposite each other, either threw a ball alternately to one another, 
or perhaps each threw a ball simultaneously, and caught the other 
throwm to him. [Non. ii. 213, datatim, i. e. invicem dando.'] This 
took place even in the streets, as we see from Plaut. {Curml. 
ii. 3, 17), where the parasite says threateningly to ail who meet 
him: 

Turn isti qui ludunt datatim servi sciirrarum in via, 
Et datores, et factores, omnes subdam sub solum. 

Comp. Nov. ap. Non. ii. 268 [in molis no7i ludunt raptim p)ila, data- 
tim morso. Enn. in Isidor. i. 25] ; the commentators Burm. adPetr. 
27 ; and especially Gronovius' note to the passage in Plautus. We 
find this simple kind of sphseristic, though in conjunction with 
orchestic, in the case of Homer's Pha^acians. Odyss. viii. 374 : 
rrjv erepos piirracrKe ttotI vecpea aKiSevra 
IdvwOels OTTtcrw • ö S' ajrh xöoj/bs v\p6a' aep0eis, 
prj'i^icas fxedeXeaKe Trdpos TToalv ovSas iK^crdai. 

And the words in the fragment of Damoxenos, in Athen, i. 26, 



Scene VII.] AND OTHER GYM^-ASTIC EXEECISES. 401 

^ \ajxßäv(jüv Hjv (Töalpav r] SiSovc, appear to mean the same tMng. 
But Seneca (de Benef. ii. 17), certainly alludes to such throwing 
and catching (Pilani) cadere non est duhium, aut mittentis vitio, aut 
accipientis. Tunc cursum suum servat uhi inter mamcs utriusque apte 
ah utroque et jactata et excepta versatur. This will be made still 
more clear by the passages to be quoted below. 

But although this expression can be explained without difficulty, 
the second, expidshn ludere, is obscure, if we are to understand it 
as a special variety of the game. Varro says, Non. ii. 281 : Tidehis 
in foro ante lanienas pueros pila exjmlsijn ludere ; and similarly in 
Petron. 27, we have lusu expellente. From neither of these passages 
is it clear what kind of game can be meant ; it is certain only that 
the notion of striking or striking back, without catching it, is not 
necessarily contained in expellere. This is apparent from its being 
also used of trigon. Mart. xiv. 46 : 

Si me mobilibus scis expidsare sinistris, 
Sum tua : si nescis, rustice, redde pilam. 

But it is certain that the trigon was meant to be caught. Still more 
erroneous is the opinion of Wüstemann {Pal. d. Scaur. 192), that 
the ball was struck with a racquet. It rests on a misunderstood 
passage of Ovid's Art. Am. iii. 361 : 

Eeticuloque pilae leves fundantur aperto ; 
Nee, nisi quam tolles, uUa movenda pila est. 

A glance at these words is sufficient to show that they contain no 
allusion to sphaeristic, and that reticulum means an open net or 
pjirse into which a number of balls were shaken, in order to be 
taken out again one by one, during which process, no other ball, 
but that which was to be taken out, might be moved. 

Apart from the passage in Varro, from which w^e are not able to 
gather the meaning of the word expellere^ expidsare seems (at 
least in trigon) only to signify generally the throwing of the ball. 
So also Seneca uses the stronger expression, repercutere (see the 
passage quoted above). Pila utciinque venerit, manus illam expedita 
et agilis repercutiet. Si cum tirone negotium est, non tarn rigide, nee 
tam excusse, sed languidius et in ipsam ejus dirigentes manum, remisse 
occurramus. Here he speaks of the datatim ludere, as indeed is 
requisite from the nature of the comparison ; for dare et accipere 
heneficium and mittere et excipere pilam, are opposed to each other. 
It is quite clear from the following passage, that repercutere does 
not, as might be supposed, signify to strike back, and that on the 
contrary, a game between two only, in which the ball was thrown 
back and caught, is mentioned (32) : Sicut in lusu est aliquid, pilam 

D D 



402 THE GAME OF BALL, [Excoesus II. 

scite ac diligenter excipere, sed non dicitur bonus lusor, nisi qui apte et 
expedite remisit, quam exceperat ; and immediately after, nee tarnen 
ideonon honumlusor'em dicam, qui pilam, ut oportebat, excepit si per 
ipsum mora, quominus remitieret, non fuit. [The word expulsim 
must mean something more than remitiere ; not to mention that 
otherwise there would be no difference between the two sorts of 
playing, datatim and expulsim. Remitiere, as Seneca says (c. 32), 
denotes the throwing back the ball which has been actually caught 
(excipere), and is the characteristic of the datatim ; on the other 
hand, expulsare and repercutere must mean the striking back the 
ball thrown to one, either towards the thrower, or further on, to a 
third player ; and this is the expulsim ludere, whereof Seneca speaks 
in the first passage. In the trigon, both the datatim and the expul- 
sim may be used (see Martial) ; since all that is required is three 
active players, who first agree as to the method of throwing to be 
used. Thus Herzberg explains Prop. iii. 12, 5 : 

Cum pila veloci fallit per brachia jactii, 
of the ball, which is thrown or struck on rapidly from arm to arm.] 
Amongst the more intricate kinds of play, the trigon, pila trigo- 
nalis, appears to have been by far the most popular and common, 
although it is not till a later period that we obtain intelligence of 
its existence. The name itself seems to explain the nature of the 
game, in which three players were required, who stood in a triangle, 
kv rptywv(^. [Isid. xviii. 69.] We know simply that the expert 
players threw and caught only with the left hand, as Martial says 
in more than one epigram j for instance, in the above mentioned 
Apophoretum : , 

Si me mobilibus scis expulsare sinistris, 
Sum tua : si nescis, rustice, redde pilam. 

Also (vii. 72, 9) : 

Sic palmam tibi de trigone nudo 
Unctse det favor arbiter coronae, 
Nee laudet Polybi magis sinistras. 

The passage xii. 83, where the parasite Menogenes is laughed at by 
the poet, because he caught the ball with the right, as well as with 
the left hand, might almost lead us to the supposition that each 
person numbered the balls caught, for it runs thus : 
Captabit tepidum dextra Isevaque trigonem, 
Imputet exceptas ut tibi ssepe pilas. 

He hoped by this means to obtain a claim on the table of the per- 
son playing with him. [Herzberg explains this also of expulsim 
ludere, but exceptas would seem rather to refer to the datatim.'] 
The word tepidum, applied to the trigon here (and iv. 19, 5) 



Scene VIT.] AND ^ OTHER GYMNASTIC EXERCISES. 403 

doubtless refers to tlie heating nature of tlie game ; but we must 
not suppose that it means tbe ball warmed in tbe band, but by a 
usual metonymy of the effect produced. No artistic representations 
of sucb spbseristic bave come down to us. Tbat which Mercurialis 
copies from coins of Marcus Aurelius, and a perfect resemblance of 
which is to be found in a painting on a ceiling (see Descr. d. Bains 
de Titus, pi. 17), is another game with several balls. 

The Tiarpastum was unquestionably a more severe exercise, the 
chief passage respecting which is to be found in Athenaeus (i. 25, 26), 
with the fragment of Antiphanes. Though there may be some 
obscurity respecting it, it is certain that a ball was thrown amongst 
the players, of which each one tried to obtain possession \ for he 
says, Trepi \xiKpac, acpaipag (c. ii. 902) : orav yap ffvviardiJLevoL Trpog 
ciWi'iXovQ Kai aTTOKcüXiiovreg vrpapiräaai rbv fxtraKv ciaTrovuxri, fisyi- 
arov avrb Kai (T(podp6raTov KaGiaraTai^ ttoWoXq fiev rpaxr]\i(T[xoiQ ttoX- 
Xalg d' avriXriipecri iraKaiaTiKalQ ävafjtffxiynevov. Hence in Martial 
(iv. 19), harpasta pidverulenta. It is worthy of remark that not 
only there, but also xiv. 48, Harpasta, 

Hsee rapit Antgei velox de pulvere draucus, 
G-randia qui vano coUa labore facit. 

the plural is used, whilst follis, paganica, trigonalis, are in the sin- 
gular. We may almost believe therefore that sometimes, if not 
always, the contest was for several balls. It is moreover very pro- 
bable that the proverb in Plaut. True. iv. 1, 8, mea pila est, may 
refer to such a game. That this game was boisterous enough, is 
evident from Athenseus ; hence Martial, too, mentions participation 
in it as one of the improprieties of Phileenis, vii. 67 : Harpasto quo- 
que suhligata ludit. 

The verses of Saleius Bassus, Paneg. in Pis. 173, 
Nee tibi mobilitas minor est, si forte volantem 
Aut geminare pilam juvat, aut revocare cadentem, 
Et non sperato fugientem reddere gestu ; 

cannot be referred either to the harpastum or the trigon. Here, 
in point of fact, a striking of the ball backwards and forwards seems 
to be spoken of, but whether the paganica be alluded to or not, we 
shall not attempt to determine. In no case is the follis meant ; for 
it was not caught ', and yet the words revocare cadentem (in manus) 
signify this. But geminare pilam and reddere fugientefn appear to 
be imderstood of striking, as Manil. v. 165 : 

nie pilam celeri fugientem reddere planta, 

Et pedibiis pensare manus, et ludere saltu. 

With just as little probability can we venture to explain the pila 

sparsiva in Petron. 27, as even the reading is doubtful. Thus much 

D D 2 



404 THE GAME OF BALL^ [Excursus II. 

only is apparent, tliat the game was played by many persons, and 
with many balls. Besides tbese most usual, and therefore to us 
better known games, it is very natural to suppose that there were 
many other varieties. 

Another species of gymnastics was the swinging of the haltei'es, 
weights, which, in practising to leap, were held in the hands. Repre- 
sentations of this exercise are to be found on gems and in paintings. 
See Tassie, Catal. pi. 46, 7978 ; Descr. d. Bains de Tit. pi. 17. Paus, 
i. 25, 26, ii. 3, adduces statues with kälteres ; and on the base of a 
restored statue of a boxer, in the Dresden collection (Aug. t. 109), 
hang the halteres as well as the cestus. [Pausan. v. 27, 8.] In the 
Roman gymnastics, these masses of lead served not only as spring- 
ing-weights, but were held in the hand and swung in various direc- 
tions with the arms. This bodily exercise is mentioned by Seneca, 
Ep, 15 : Sunt exercitationes et faciles et breves. Ckirsuset cum aliquo 
2)ondere manus motes ; and {Up. 56) where he is describing the noise 
in. the sphcsrisferiwn of the baths of Baise : Cumfortiores exercentur 
et manus plumho gravesjactant, cum aut lahorant, aut laborantem imi- 
tantur, gemitus audio. Mart. xiv. 19, also mentions them : 
Quid pereiint stiilto fortes haltere lacerti ? 
Exercet melius vinea fossa viros. 

and Philsenis says (vii. 67, 6) : gravesque draucislialteras facilirotat 
lacerto. Comp. Juven. vi. 420. Mercurialis, in explanation, has given 
several copies of halteristce, taken from gemS; and says : ut possit 
ceHior formce hujusce exercitationis notitia haheri, adponendas cura- 
vimus halteristanün imagines, quas ex gemmis antiquis sculptis accep- 
tas adnos misit Pyrrhus Ligorius ; which words are expressly quoted 
that the whole copy may not be considered a mere fancy, as unfor- 
tunately is often the case with similar representations. Resting 
upon this, in Becker's Naclitr. ad Aug. 429, the Dresden sphceiistce, 
as they are called, are surmised to have been rather halteristee. 

A third sort of exercise was the sham fight with thepalus, a post 
fixed in the ground, and against which they fought with a wicker- 
work shield, and wooden sword, as against a living adversary. 
This game served originally as practice for the tirones, in order that 
they might acquire a knowledge of the use of their weapons. Veget. 
i, 11, gives us a full explanation of it : Antiqui, sicut invenitur in 
Ubris, hoc genere exercuere tirmies. Scuta de vimine in inodum cra- 
tium cm-rotundata texehant, ita ut duplum pondus cratis haheret, 
quam scutum publicum habere consuevit, iidemque clavas ligneas dupli 
ceqiie ponderis pro gladiis tiro7iibus dabant, eoque modo non tantum 
mane, sed etiajnpost meridiem exercebantur ad pahs. Palorum autem 
usus non solum militibus, sed etiam gladiatoribus plurimum prodest. 



Scene VIT.] AND OTHER GYMNASTIC EXERCISES. 405 

A singulis tiroyiibus singuU pali defigebantur in terram, ita ut nutare 
non possent, et sex pediJms eminerent. Contra ilium palu7n, tanquam 
contra adversarium, tiro cum crate ilia et clava velut cum gladio se 
exej'cehat et scuto, ut nunc quasi caput aut faciem peteret, nunc lateri- 
bus minaretur, interdum contenderet poplites et crura succidere, acce- 
deretf recederet, assultaret, insiliret, et. quasi prmseyitem adversarium, 
sicpalum omni impetu, omni bellandi aHe tentaret. In qua medita- 
tione servabatur ilia cautela, ut ita tiro ad infer endum vuhius insur- 
geret, ne qua parte ipse pater et ad plag am. This kind of fight was 
however practised not only as a stud}'^, but also for exercise pre- 
vious to the bath. This is what Martial means (vii. 32, 7), 

Non pila, non follis, non te paganica thermis 
Prseparat, aut nudi stipitis ictus hebes : 

where stipes means simply the post, and ictus hebes, the wooden 
sword. So also Juven, vi. 247, in reprobation of the vicious habit 
of women practising such gymnastics : 

Endromidas Tyrias et femineum ceroma 
Quis nescit ? vel quis non vidit vulnera pali ? 
Quem eavat adsiduis sudibus scutoque lacessit. 

Comp. V. 267, where Lipsius, Mil. Rom. v. 14 ; Saturn, i. 15, would 
read rudibus instead of sudibus. 

Besides these, especially in the public baths, the more severe 
exercises of the palcestra, as the lucta (whence frequent mention of 
the ceroma, ondi ßavescere haphe), the discus, &c. were practised. 

Running and leaping were very common exercises. Augustus 
himself, after reducing his gymnastics to ambulatio alone, used to 
do this. Suet. Aug. 83, deambulabat, ita id in extremis spatiis sub- 
sultim decurreret. Seneca, Ep. 15, divides leaping into three kinds, 
saltus, vel ille qui corptis in altum Icvat, vel ilk qui in longum ^nittit, 
vel ille, ut ita dicam, saliaris, aut ut contmneliosius dicam, fullonius. 
The latter was not so much to be called leaping, as a species of 
dancing after the fashion of the Salii. [Plautus, Baccli. iii. 8, 24, 
mentions all the exercises together, though he is referring chiefly 
to Greek customs : 

Ibi cursu, luctando, hasta, disco, pugilatu, pila, 
Saliendo, sese exercebant. 

So Ovid. Trist, iii. 12, 19 ; Art. Am. iii. 383.] 

Old or indolent people, who wanted either the power or the in- 
clination for more severe exercises, restricted themselves to the 
ambulatio or gestatio only, partly on horseback, partly in a car- 
riage or on the lectica. Still there are many instances in which 
men of advanced age did not renounce the game of ball. Pliny 



406 THE GAME OF BALL, [Excursus II. 

relates of Spurinna, Ep. iii. 1 : Uhi liora halinei nmitiata est, i?i 
sole, si cm'et vento, amhulat nudus. Deinde movetur pila vehementer 
et diu ; nam hoc quoque exercitationis genere pugnat cum senectute. 

For the purpose of practising these gymnastics, they had in 
their own residence a sphceristerium, which derived its name from 
the game of hall, as being the most favomite and general exercise, 
although it was fitted up for other games also. [Stat. Silv. iv. 
preef. Sed et sphcBvomachias speetamus et pilaHs lusio admittitur. 
Comp. Suet. Vesp. 20 j Orell. Liscr. 57.J So Pliny, Ep. v. 6, 27, 
says : Ap>odyterio superpositum est sphcsristerium, quod plura genei^a 
exercitationis pluresque circulos capit. There then the sphseristerium 
was situated on the first fioor, for Hirt's conjecture, apodyterio sup- 
positum est sph., which is as much as to say, ^ under the windows of 
the apodyterium lies the sphseristerium,' is neither necessary, nor in 
conformity with the usages of language, as we may say suhjacet, but 
not supponitur. Probably a stair led from the apodyterium into 
the spheeristerium, which might nevertheless be a much larger room 
than the other. The circuU are not divisions of the sphaeristerium, 
for the different games, or parties of players, but the latter them- 
selves. The expression could best be explained from Petronius, 
where we read (27) : Nos interim vestiti errare ccepimus {in balneo), 
imojocari magis et circidis ludentum accedere. The word is the more 
suitable, as most probably, at the public baths, a circle of specta- 
tors used to collect roimd the players. Hence Mart. vii. 72, 10, 
says : 

Sic palmam tibi de trigone nudo 
Unctse det favor arbiter coroiiöe. 

Celsus, i. 2, prescribes : Exercitationis plerumqueßnis esse debet sudor, 
aut certe lassitudo, quce citra fatigationem sit. And for this reason 
the place of exercise was erected in sunny spots in the open air, 
and if inside the house, was so made as to admit of being warmed. 
So Statins says of the Balneum Etrusci, v. 57, seqq. : 

Quid nimc strata solo referam tabulata, crepantes 
Aiiditura pilas, ubi languidus ignis inerrat 
^dibus, et teniiem volvunt bypocansta vaporem. 

Comp. Gevart. Led. Pajjin. c. 38, From this passage we might 
conclude that the sphseristeria were sometimes boarded, strata solo 
talndata, but after considering the words immediately succeeding, 
ubi languidus ignis ineirat, etc., we can only arrive at the conviction 
that we must not read tabulata but tiibtdata, as has been shown 
above. Pliny, Ep. ii. 17, 9 : Adhceret dormitorium membrum, transitu 
interjacente, qui suspensus et tubulatus conceptum vaporem, salubri 
temperamento hue illucque digerit et ministrat. The matter becomes 



Scene VII.] AXD OTHER GYMNASTIC EXEECISES. 407 

still plainer tlirougli Seneca, Ep. 90: Qucsdam nostra demum pro- 
disse memoria scimus — ut suspensuras halneorum et wipressos parieti- 
bus tuhos, per quos oircumfunderetur calor, qui ima simul et summa 
foveret cequaliter. In Statins then, we must suppose tlie floor to have 
"been warmed, which is not extraordinary, for they used to exercise 
perfectly naked, and the solece were natui-ally taken off, Petr. 27, 
adduces it as something particular that Trimalchio soleatus pila exer- 
cebatur. Also in Martial, xii. 85, 3, we have, 

Colliget et referet lapsum de pulvere follem, 
Et si jam lotus, jam soleatus erit. 

As the exercitatio always preceded the bath, it is natural to suppose 
that the sphaeristeria, hoth at the public balnea, and in private 
houses, were immediately adjoining the bath. So they are placed 
by Pliny in both the villas. Ep. ii. 17, 12 : v. 6, 27. 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE VIII. 



THE DEESS OF THE MEN. 

AS tlie costume of the Roman ladies remained till a late period 
essentially the same, so the men wore one distinguishing dress 
which first began to grow obsolete after the downfall of the Re- 
public, when the indifference respecting the cultivation of national 
habits, equalled that about the public affairs of the country. It is 
true that other articles of dress were worn as well as the simple 
robe of early days, and even this was folded with greater nicety 
and amplitude than before ; but we must look on those habits as 
genuine Roman which were in vogue at the most blooming period 
of the Republic. 

Among the writings on this subject, the laborious compilation of 
Ferrarius {De re Vestiana, ii. vii.) will always stand chief. Differing 
from him, are Rubeni, De re Vest prcecipue de lato clavo, and on the 
other side, Ferrarii, Analecta de re Vest. ; Dandre Bardon, du 
Costume, etc. des anciens peuples ; Martini, Das Kostüm der meisten 
Völker des Alterth. ; Malliot and Martin, Recherches stir le Costume, 
etc. des anc. peuples, t. i. — iii.; Seckendorf, Die Grundform der Toga; 
Thom. Baxter, Description of the Egyptian, Gh'eek, and Roman 
Costumes ; Bartholini, de pcenida. Compare also Ottfr. Müller, 
Dtrusker, i. 260. See Becker's Charicles, translated by Metcalfe. 
The chief sources of information are Quinctil. Inst. xi. 3 ; the 
grammax-ians, especially Nonius, De genere vestim. ; Gellius, vii. 12 ; 
TertuU. De pallio, v. ; and the numerous statues in Roman costume. 

In speaking of the dress of every-day life, we shall exclude the 
costume belonging to particular offices, or to public positions 
generally, as well as the un-roman habiliments which came into 
use after the second century ; nor shall we describe the tunica 
palmata and toga jncta of the Triumphatores, or the jjaludamentum 
of the general, or the caracalla, the hracca, &c. The regular dress 
of the Romans, both male and female, consisted of only two or 
three articles, the tunica interior and exterior, and the toga, to which 
were added certain others, as the pcenula, and later tYiQfascice, for 
travelling, or defence against the inclemency of the weather. 

THE TOGA. 

Whether the word toga, rrißtwoc, be rightly derived by Varro, 
i. 2, from tegere coipus, is immaterial, though 



Scene VIII.] THE DRESS OF THE MEK 409 

this derivation is a pretty obvious one. It must be mentioned 
first, as it is said by Gellius (vii. 12) to bave been the oldest, and 
indeed at one time the only garment. Though this can only 
apply to appearing in public, for mention is made of the tunica 
from the very earliest times. The toga was worn in the house ; 
and at work, perhaps only a suhligaculum, Dionys. x. 17, of Cin- 
cinnatus, axiriov, 7repic.(t}fiäriov ex^ov. Liv. iii. 26. Even later the toga 
was worn vdthout the tunica ; so of Cato ; Plut. Cat. min. 6. äx'irwv 
tQ TO SijiAocTtov Trpoyci. Asc. ad Cic. p. Scaur, p. 30. So also the can- 
didati were avev xtrw^-og, according to Plut. Cor. 14. Qu. Rom. 49. 
Whether its origin is to besought for in Lydia, or whether the custom 
passed from Etruria to Lydia, and thence to Rome (see Müller, Etr. 
i, 262), is a disputed point, and not capable of proof; but there is 
no doubt that it was used by the Etruscans earlier than by the Ro- 
mans, and it is among the former nation that we find it worn on the 
bare body on statues. Besides which, the toga prcetexta is distinctly 
mentioned as derived from the Etrurians. Liv. i. 8. Plin. viii, 48, 74 : 
PrcBtextcB aptid Etruscos originem invenere. It was peculiarly the vestis 
forensis. Thus Cincinnatus puts it on, before receiving the embassy 
of the senate. Consequently it was laid aside when one returned to 
his house, or left Rome. Cic.^. Mil. 10. Milo cum in senatu f lasset 
— domum venit — calceos et vestimenta mutat. Hence it is called 
ciariKt) taBrjc, Dio Cass. fr. 145. Ivi. 81 ; and the dress of peace, in 
opposition to the sagum, xli. 17, ti}v laSrira Tr)v dpr]viKi]i'. 

It was then the distinguishing garment of the Roman, and only 
worn by those who had the right of civitas ; hence exiles, at least 
under the emperors, were not permitted to wear it, Pliny relates of 
Valerius Licinianus, who lived in banishment in Sicily, as a teacher 
of rhetoric {Epist. iv. 11) : Idem, cum Grceeopallio amictus intrasset, 
{parent enim togcejure, quihus aqua et igni inter dictum est) postquam 
se composuit circumspexitque hahitum suum : Latine, inquit, declama- 
turus sum. Strangers did not presume to wear the toga, as we 
learn from the laughable decision of Claudius. Suet. Claud. 15 : 
Peregrinitatis retmi, orta inter advocatos levi contentione, togatumne 
an palliatum dicere causam oporteret, — mutare hahitum scspius, et 
prout accusaretur def ender eturve, jussit. The Roman was not only 
entitled to wear the toga, but he was even liable to a penalty if 
he appeared abroad in foreign costume ; as tninuens majestatem 
P. R. Hence the charge against Rabirius, Cic. p. Rah. 9, palliatum 
fuisse, aliqua hahuisse non Romani hominis insignia. On the other 
hand, Verr. v. 33, stetit soleatus prcetor P. R. cum pallio purpureo 
tunicaque talari. 52. comp. iv. 24, 25 ; v. 13, 16. But in the civil 
wars, the 'pallium^ or some similar garment which was more conve- 



410 THE DEESS OF THE MEX. [Excursus I. 

nient, got into use ; so that Augustus issued a decree forbidding this 
innovation; but only in regard to appearing in the forum and 
circus. Suet. Aug. 40, Visa quondam pro concione palliatorum 
turha, indignahundus et clamitans : En, ait, 

Romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam. 
Negotium (edilibus dedit, ne quern posthac paterentur in foro 
circove nisi positis laeernis togatum consistere. (The lacerna having 
been worn over the toga : see below.) Hence the Romans were 
denominated simply togati, or, as in Virg. j^n. i. 282, gens togata. 
[Mart. xiii. 124.] In later times it fell into disuse, and con- 
tinued to be worn only by the higher orders, at judicial proceed- 
ings, or by clients receiving the sportula, at the salutatio, and 
at the anteambulatio, and, lastly, at the theatre and public games, 
in deference to the presence of the emperors. Hence what Lam- 
prid. (16) relates of Commodus is an exception : ccmtra consue- 
tudinem pcemdatos jussit spectatores, non togatos ad munus con- 
venire. At a later period those invited to the imperial table, at 
least, were compelled to appear in it. Spart. Sever, i. Quum ro- 
gatus ad coenam imperatoriam palliatus venissef, qui togatus venire 
dehuerat, togam prcesidiariafu ipsius iynperatoris accepit. But it may 
be doubted whether such a custom prevailed in the time of 
Augustus, and the author therefore may probably escape censure 
for allowing Gallus, in the first scene, to wear the synthesis. [But 
after the above-mentioned interdict of Augustus, the toga only 
could have been worn at court.] 

There are three points to which we must direct our attention ; 
the form of the toga, the manner of wearing it, and the material of 
which it was composed. There has been much discussion concern- 
ing the form, though it is placed beyond all doubt by the clearest 
testimonies. Dion. Hal., iii. 61, says : TrtpißoXaiov 7)fxiKVK\iov. tu ds 
Toiaiira tüv äficpitajxdrojv Vwfiaioi [lev TÖyag/EWijves ce rrißtvvov 
KoKovcriv ; Quinct. Inst. xi. 3 : Ipsam togam rotundam esse et apte 
ccesam velim ; Isid. Orig. xix. 24 : Toga dicta, quod velamento sui 
corpus tegat atque operiat. Est auf em pallium purum forma rotunda 
effusiore et quasi inundante simi, et sub dextro veniens supra humerum 
sinistrum ponitur ; and AthenEBUs (v. 213), in mentioning the cruelty 
with which Mithridates treated the Romans, says: tü)v 6' a\Aa>i/ 
Pwfxaiujv OL fxkv 6eu)v ayaXfinm TrpoaTTtTTTujicaaip, o'l 6e Xonroi ixera/A<pi- 
effäfiivoi TiTpäyüJva iixdria Tag i^ apx>)g TraTpldag iräXiv ovofxd'Covaiv. 
They denied the community with Romans by assuming an un- 
roman square garment ; and the same is the meaning of pallium 
teres, Tertull. de PalL i. in contradistinction to the proper square 
pallium. Many have, however^ supposed that it was square -, and 



Scene VIIL] THE DEESS OF THE MEN. 411 

Von Seckendorf has endeavoured to prove that the adjustment of 
the rohe^ visible in statues, can "be effected hj means of a square 
toga. But this seems to require a most distinct contradiction, and 
will be best confuted by the following explanation of the mode of 
adjusting the toga, by which tying was out of the question. It is 
supposed that this rj^iKvicXiov was the segment of a large circle, 
(Müll. Mr. 263, and Spalding on Quinct. 443) ; but it appears 
doubtful whether in that case the width, which the dress evidently 
possessed, could be attained. Horace {Epod. iv. 8) designates a 
toga of six ells, as a very wide one ; and if we take the semicircular 
segment, with a chord of six ells, the greatest breadth would be 
three ells, with which the breadth of fold that we find under 
Augustus never could have been attained ; and Quinctilian, in that 
case, would not have needed to direct that it should be ai^te ccssa. 
It was, on the contrary, round, but possessing a greater width than 
would have been possible with the segment of a circle ; and in this 
manner only can we explain the adjustment of the toga in statues; 
e.g. in the Mus. £o7^b. vii. 43, and in the Augusteum, iii. 119 
and 124. 

Concerning the manner of adjusting it, the chief passage is in 
Quinctil. xi. 3, 137 : Est aliquid in amictu ; quod ipsum aliquatenus 
temporum conditione mutatum est. Nam vcterihus nnlli sinus ; per- 
qxmm breves post illos fuerunt. Itaque etiam gestu necesse est usos 
esse in principiis eos alio, quorum brachium, sicut Grcecorum, veste 
continebatur. Sed nos de prcesentibus loquimur. Ipsam togam ro- 
tundam esse et apte ccesam velirn. Aliter enim multis modis ßet 
eno7'7nis. Pars ejus prior mediis o'ti?'ibus optime terminafur, posterior 
eadem portione altius, qua cinctui^a. Sinus decentissinius, si aliquanto 
supra imam togam fuerit, nunquam certe sit inferior, llle qui sub 
humero dextro ad sinistrum, oblique ducitur, velut balteus, nee stran- 
gulet, necßuat. Pars togce, quce postea imponitur, sit infei'im- ; nam 
ita et sedet melius et continetur. Subducenda etiainpars aliqua tunicce 
ne ad lacertum in actu redeat : t^mi sinus injiciendus humero, cujus 
extremnm ora^n rejecisse non dedecet. Operiri autem 1iu7nerum cum 
totojugulo non oportet ; alioqui amictus ßet angustus et dignitatem, 
quce est in latitudine pectoris, perdet. Sinistrum brachium eo usque 
allevandum est, ut qtiasi nonnalem ilium angidum faciat. Super 
quod era ex toga duplex cequaliter sedeat. Spalding's commentary 
has done away with most of the difficulties of the text, but still it 
is not clear how the whole was adjusted, and how the balteus and 
the sinus arose, and yet these are the two points which require 
most explanation. The description of the tedious minuteness in 
the adjustment of the toga, as compared with that of the pallium, is 



412 



THE DRESS OF THE MEX. [Excursus T. 



perhaps not less instructive. TertuU. de Pallio, 5 : Prius etiam ad 
simplicem captaielam ejus mdlo tcedio constat (pallium) ] adeo nee 
artißcem necesse est, qui pridie rugas ah exordio formet et inde 
deducat in tilias totumque contracti umbonis ßgmentmn custodihus 
forcipihus assignet, deliinc diluculo tunica prius cingulo correpta, 
quam prcestabat moderatioretn texuisse, recognito rursiis umhone, et, si 
quid exorhitavit, reformato p)artem quidem de Icbvo promittat, amhitian 
vero ejus, ex quo sinus nascitur jam deficientibus tahidis retraliat a 
scapulis et exclusa dexter a in Icevam adJiuc conger at cum alio pari 
tahulato in terga devoto, atque ita hominem sarcina vesfiat. 




Figure showing the simple 7nethod of arranging the Toga. 



Scene VIIL] THE DEESS OF THE MEN. 413 

"VVe must especially distinguislL between two düFerent ways of 
adjusting the toga; the older and more simple, and the later, when 
it was broader, and the folds more ample. We see an instance of 
the first in the above engraving, copied from a statue in the 
Dresden collection, Augusteiwi, 117. The robing of four other- 
statues in the same collection is precisely the same, and in a sixth, 
the toga is far more yoluminously folded, but the way of putting it 
on the same. In this figure, the adjustment is very simple ; the one 
end is thrown over the left shoulder to the front, so that the round 
side falls outwards ; the robe is then conducted behind the body, 
and over the right shoulder, so that the arm rests in it, as in a sling, ' 
whilst the whole remaining portion being drawn across the front of 
the person, is thrown over the left shoulder. The second end hangs 
down the back, and the left arm is concealed by the robe falling 
over it. We here see plainly what Quinctilian means by hrachium 
veste continehatur ; for the hand only is free, and if we take the 
folds, in which the arm reposes for a sinus, it is at all events a 
2Je7'quam hrevis one. 

A description of the second mode of adjustment is far more 
difficult. It is, however, here represented after a statue of Lucius 
Mammius Maximus, found in Herculaneum, and copied in the Mus. 
Borh. vi. 41, and with which the similarly draped statues in the 
August 119 and 124, and Mus. Borh. vii. 43 and 49, may be com- 
pared. The parts named by Quinctilian are clearly visible, and it 
is easy to point out the velut ha-teus, the sinus, and the ora duplex, 
although it is very difficult to unravel the robe in one's mind, or to 
produce a similar adjustment. After manifold experiments with 
square and round cloths, the author became convinced that it re- 
quires a half-round and very long robe, but broader or wider, in 
proportion to its length, than the segment of a circle would be. 
This garment was also first thrown across the left shoulder, but the 
portion with the point depending in front, was brought down much 
lower, (in our statue as low as the feet ; in those in the August. 124, 
and in the Mus. Borh. vii. 49, it even falls on the ground), and this 
of itself covered the left arm entirely. The toga was then drawn 
behind the back, and so on to the front of the body, and then 
doubled together in a fold at about the middle of its breadth, so 
that the upper part fell down as a sinus, and the lower part covered 
the body and the legs ; thus arose the bimdle of folds crossing ob- 
liquely from under the right arm, athwart the breast,^ and which is 



' Probably the follo^ving remarks by j the magnificent statue of Tiberius in 
M. Le Cte. de Clarac, in connexion with the Louvre, may serve to illustrate 



414 THE DRESS OF THE MEK [Excursus T. 

generally understood by the term 2imho ; the remaining part was 




Figure showing the second and more elaborate mode of adjustment of the Toga. 

then thrown over the left shoulder and arm, which was thus douhly 
covered. On the extremities we find tassels, or buttons, which 



tMs difficult subject : " D'aprös des 
reclierches sur les statues vetues de la 
toge et les essais qu'en ont faits des 
peintres, des sculpteurs et des acteurs, 



il parait positif que, dans sa longueur, 
sa forme etait une ligne droite qui sous- 
tendait une courbe qui n'etait pas tout 
ä fait circulaire, mais un peu elliptique. 



ScESE VIII.] THE DKES3 OP THE MEX. 



415 



served either for ornament, or to keep down the garment by their 
weight ; lastly, one part of the robe depending in front was drawn 
forward, or some of the width of the sinus was drawn over to the left 
and this, in connexion with the bunch of folds, was probably called 
umho. In several statues the toga reaches almost to the media 
crura, and the sinus nearly as far ; but a little more, and it would 
fall lower than the undermost border of the robe. 

It is hoped that this explanation may prove intelligible. The 
principal point to be understood is, that the garment which was 
drawn behind the back towards the right into the front^ when it 
depended in its width, was caught up in the middle, and thus 
divided into two halves, one of which formed the sinus^ whilst the 
other fell down over the body and legs. This will be made more 
clear by comparing such statues as the Concordia, (in Visconti, Mon. 
Gah. 34), where the palla is caught in the same manner, and a 
similar oblique bunch of folds is caused, and the upper half of the 
garment, as the sinus in the case of the toga, hung over. We 
shall find everything in TertuUian in agreement with what we 
have said. 

They who valued this intricate method of adj usting the robe, 
used, before putting it on, to have it ingeniously folded, and this 
operation took place every evening. Thin little boards were laid 
between the folds, (tahulce and tabulata,) to keep them in their 
places, qui pr idle rug as ah exordio formet et inde deducat in tilias, 
(not talias as Salmas. reads) ) and the umbo was kept together by 
a pair of forceps, which merely prevented the folds getting out of 
their order, but did not produce the umbo ; they were only custodes. 
We see from Macrobius (Sat. ii. 2) what great care was lavished 
upon the adjustment of the toga. 

The colour of the toga was white, and hence it is called pura^ 
vestimentum purum, and only boys carried, till the tirocinium fori, 



La longueur de la toge etait de trois 
fois la hauteur de rhomme, prise des 
epaules jusqu'ä terre. La largeur, ä 
I'endroit le plus saillant de la courbe, 
n'avait qu'une hauteur. Pour se vetir 
de la toge, on plapait la partie droite 
sur I'epaule gauche, de maniere qu'il 
tombat un tiers de la longueur en avant 
entre les jambes. La ligne droite se 
tournait vers le cou. La toge passait 
ensuite obliquement sur le dos par-des- 
sous le bras droit, et le dernier tiers de 
la longueur, ou uu peu moins, se rejet- 



tait par-dessus I'epaule gauche et retom- 
bait en arriere. Celui qui etait sur le 
devant et interieurement eüt gene par 
sa longueur ; on le relevait par le haut, 
et en se rabattant il f asait sur la poi- 
trine des plis dont la masse se nommait 
umbo. Ceux qu'ils reccfuvraient et qui 
traversaient obliquement sur la poi- 
trine, f ormaient des haltei (baudriers) , 
et on donnait le nom de sinus ä ceux 
qui couvraient le milieu des corps, &c." 
Transl. 



416 THE DRESS OF THE MEN". [ExcuRsns I. 

those "bordered witli purple, toga pnstexta. The pr-cstexta, used by- 
magistrates, and the Candida, or splendens, the toga picta, and the 
tunica ijalmata, do not enter into our present discussion. Of the 
sordida, and puHa^ more hereafter. In later times, a toga purpurea 
was a distinction of the emperors, and Caesar was probably the first 
who wore it. . Cic. Fhil. ii. 34. 



THE TUNICA 

was worn under the toga, and was a sort of shirt, originally, perhaps, 
without sleeves, like the Doric chiton, colohium. Usually, how- 
ever, it had short sleeves, covering the upper half of the arm, as is 
seen in most statues. Later, these sleeves reached to the hand, 
tunica manicatcs, ^f tjOt^ajro/, but they are seldom met with, not even 
in the case of women. In the paintings and relievos at Pompeii 
and Herculaneum, representing comic scenes, aU the actors have 
tunicas x^i-pi-^^^Tovg, (Gell. Pompeiana, new ed. ii. t. 76 ; Mus. Borh. 
iv. t. 18, 33), but they are not Roman costume. Cicero inveighs 
against this effeminacy. Catil. ii. 10 ; in Clod, et Cur. 5 ; and 
Caesar wore the tunica laticlavia ad manus ßmhriata. Suet. Cces. 45. 
Gell. vii. 12 : Tunicis uti virum prolixis ultra hrachia et usque in 
primores manus ac prope digitos Moince atque omni in Latio inde- 
corum fuit. Eas tunicas Qrceco vocabido nostri ^ftpi^w-ovc appella^ 
verunt ; feminisque solis vestem longe lateque diffusam decorum existi- 
maverunt, ad ulnas cruraque adversus oculos protegenda. 

Although, according to Gellius, the toga only was worn in 
former times, and that next the skin, yet they afterwards were not 
content with one tunica only, but the men, like the women, wore a 
tunica interior. With the women it was called intusium, with the 
men, suhucula, says Boettiger (^Sah. ii. 113) ; but this nevertheless 
appears erroneous. The fragment of Varro {De Vita Pop. Pom.), 
is well known : Postquam Unas tunicas habere ccep'erunt, instituerunt 
vocarc suhuculani et intusium. It is this passage that has given rise 
to the blunder borrowed by Ferrari from Manutius, and by Boetti- 
ger from Ferrari. Varro, on the contrary, wishes to say that the 
under tanica was called subucula, the upper intusium, as is clear 
from his treatise De Ling. Lat. v. 30 : Prius dein indutui, turn amictm 
qucB sunt, tangam. Capitium ah eo, quod capit pectus, id est, ut 
antiqui dicehant, comprehendit. Indutui alterum quod subtus, a quo 
subucula ; alterum, quod supra, a quo sujjpanis, nisi id quod item 
dicunt Osce. Alteritts generis itefn duo : unum quod foris ac 



Scene YIII.] THE DRESS OF THE MEN. 417 

palam, palla ; alterum quod intus, a quo intusium, id quod Plautus 
dicit : 

Intusiatam, patagiatam, caltulam, crocotulam. 

The phrases explained "by Varro were obsolete. Gell. xvi. 7, 
censures Laberius for using the expression capitium. Supparus 
in such a sense is also inadmissible. We gather, however, from 
Varro, that he understands capitium as a general term for over and 
under tunic ; the over being further called supparus, the under 
subucula. Of the supparus he then mentions two sorts, the in- 
dusium and the palla. This agrees but ill with Nonius ; but Varro 
evidently wishes to define indusium as a particular kind of the 
over-coat supparus. Moreover, he speaks, apparently, of the 
female dress, having already discussed the toga and tunica of the 
men ; and subucula would therefore also denote the under-tunic of 
the women. Perhaps, later, the word subucula was restricted in its 
sense to the men's dress only ; but Varro says not a word about the 
indusium being the inner tunic of the women. 

Persons susceptible of cold wore several tunics over one another. 
So Augustus, Suet. 82 : Hieme quaternis cum pingui toga tunicis et 
suhuculce thorace laneo muniebatur. From whence it would seem 
that the subucula fitted tight to the body. 

The clavis latus, or angustus, was a particular distinction for the 
senatorial or equestrian order ; hence tunica laticlavia, or angusti- 
clavia. There is no longer any doubt that the latus clavus was a 
strip of purple in the middle of the tunic in front, running down 
from the neck to the lower border, while the angustus consisted of 
two such smaller strips. See Hüben. De re Vest., and Spalding on 
Quinctilian, 441. These strips were woven into the cloth, as we see 
from Plin. viii. 48 : Nam tunica lati clavi in modum gausapce texi 
nunc pri^num incipit. The phrase mutare vestem was no doubt 
restricted to the act of laying aside these insignia ; [which always 
happened in public mourning.] The expression sordidatus is never 
used of soiled clothing. Dio Cass, xxxviii. 14, xl. 46; Cic. p. 
Plane. 41 ; Liv. Ep. cv. [But when the whole people is said 
mutare vestem, as Cic. in Pis. 8 ; Liv. vi. 16 : Conjecto in carcerem 
Manlio satis constat magnam partem, plebis vestem mutasse ; this must 
signify that they laid aside the toga, as the characteristic dress of 
the lloman citizen. This is further clear from Sen. PJp. 18, where 
he speaks of the Saturnalia, when, as is well known, the toga was 
laid aside : quod fieri nisi in tumultu et tristi tempore civitatis non 
solebat, voluptatis causa ac feäorum dierum vestein mutavimus ; where 
the last words mean the same as togam exuere just before. In 

E E 



418 THE DRESS OE THE MEX. [Excursus I. 

domestic mourning, on tlie contrary, vestem inutare is to put on 
mourning habiliments. See Excursus, Sc. XII.] 

The tunica was girded under the breast {cincturd) ; those however 
who wore the latus davus, girded only the under one ; but to 
this rule Csesar was an exception. Suet. Ctes. 45. The disputed 
passage, Macrob. Sat. ii. 3, contains a mistake, and the emendation 
ttmtca prcBcmgehatur will not at all accord with laciniam trahere. 
Quinctilian directs with respect to the length of the garment : Cui 
lati clavi jus 7ion erit, ita cingatur, ut tunicis priorihus oris infra 
genua iniuTium^ jyosteriorihus ad niedios poplites usque perveniant. 
Nam infra mulierum est, supra centuriomim. Ut purpurce rede 
descendant, levis cura est. Notatur inte7'im negligentia. Latum 
habentium clavum modus est, ut sit paullum cinctis summissior. 
There is no doubt that ci?ictis is in the ablative in the last words, 
but it is not necessary that it should be referred to the cinctura of 
the angusticlavia, as it can also mean, that the laticlavia must hang 
down somewhat lower than the tunicce interiores, which were always 
girded. We might inquire the purpose of this, as the tog'a which 
was thrown over it quite concealed the imder portion of the tunica -, 
but we must not forget that the toga was only worn in public, and 
that on arriving at home it was immediately put off. Men who 
wore low falling tunicce, talares, were always censured. The upper 
tunica had not long sleeves, but the suhucula had. 

The toga was the Roman robe of state, and the tunica was the 
household garment ; but in bad weather and out of Rome, on a 
journey for instance, some other article of dress was necessary as a 
defence against the dust and rain. 

This deficiency was supplied by 

THE P^NULA, 

a kind of mantle worn by all classes, and even by women. Ulp. 
Big. xxxiv. 2, 23 ; Lips. Elect, i. 13, 25 j Salm. ad Spart. Hadr. 3, 
p. 25 ; Lamprid. Comm. 16, p. 517 ; Diadum. 2, p. 774 ; Alex. Sev. 
27, p. 926 ; and Barthol. De Pcenula. 

This garment has been so much discussed, that it will be 
sufficient to mention here the chief points about its use and sup- 
posed nature. It seems to have been a long simple mantle without 
sleeves, and having probably only a hole for the neck. It \vas 
drawn on over the head, and so covered the whole body, from the 
neck downwards, including the shoulders and arms. If the statues 
made known by Bartholini, of one of which the following is a copy, 
can be referred to this kind of dress, it would appear to have been 



Scene VIIL] THE DRESS OF THE MEN". 



419 



sewed together in front down tlie breast. Tliis seam, however, 
sometimes goes lower, and at others stops on the breast, and then 
the mantle falls down beneath it in two halves, which might be 
thrown back, and so leave the arms free, as in the figure given 
above. The most striking monument, perhaps, is a lihertus on a 
tomb in the Lapidarium of the Vatican. The pcenula was made of 




Figure of a man supposed to be dressed in the Pcenula. 

a thick strong cloth, especially if intended for winter use, and after 
the introduction of woollen gausapa, they were probably used for 
the purpose. Mart. xiv. 145, Pcemda gausapina : 

Is mihi candor inest, villorum gratia tanta, 
Ut me vel media sumere messe vehs. 

Comp. vi. 59. Such gausapince came into use only a short time 
before Pliny, who says (viii. 48) : Gausapa Qanea) patris mei 
memoria coepere. Gausapa was originally a linen cloth, rendered 
rough by a particular process. See Becker's Nachträge zum August. 
p. 46. The pcenulce were also made of leather, scoj'tece. Mart. xiv. 
130, Pcenula scortea : 

Ingrediare Tiam ccelo licet usque serene ; 
Ad subitas nunquam scortea desit aquas. 

E E 2 



420 THE DRESS OF THE MEN. [Exclksus I. 

The use of tlie psenula is at least as old as the most ancient 
Roman literature known to us ; for in Plautus it is frequently 
alluded to as something quite usual. When Pliny (xxxiv. 5), among 
the effigies Jiahitu novitias, reckons those, qu<^ nuper prodiere pcsnulis, 
it only applies to the artistic representations, for which the paenula 
was but little adapted. It existed along with the toga, the place 
of which it never usurped, although the lacerna doubtless did. It 
was worn next to the tunica, and chiefly on journeys ; Cicero p. 
Mil. 20, cum hie cum uxore vehej'etw in rheda pcenulatus. Ad Attic. 
xiii. 33. Hence it was the dress of the mulio. Cic. ^. Sest. 38, 
mulionica pcenula. It was also used in the city in rainy weather. 
Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 27,pcBnulis intra urhem frigoi'is causa utermtur 
permisit, on which Salm. quotes Seneca, Qucest. Nat. iv. 6. The 
toga was then worn underneath it. It was likewise worn at games. 
Dio Cass. Ixxii. 21. 

A similar mantle, likewise worn over the toga, was 

THE LACERNA, 

or lacerncs, and often confounded by later writers with the paenula. 
It difi'ered from the latter, however, in not being a vestimentum 
clausum, through which the head was inserted, but, like the Greek 
pallium, an open mantle, usually fastened together over the right 
shoulder by nßbula. The lacerna is unquestionably of later origin 
than the psenula, and Cicero thus complained of Antony (Phil. ii. 30) 
Nam quod qwsrehas, quomodo redissem : primum luce, non tenehris 
deinde cum calceis et toga, mdlis nee Gallicis nee lacerna ; and then 
cum Gallicis et lacerna cucurristi. As early as the first emperors it 
was in common use in winter at the public games, as we learn from 
Suetonius' description of the honours paid to Claudius by the ordo 
equester. Claud. 6, Quin et spectacidis advenienti assurgere et lacernas 
deponere solehat (ordo equester). It was not designed solely for 
protection against the weather, and was therefore worn of more 
elegant form than the psenula. White lacernse only were proper 
costume for the theatre, when the emperor was expected to be pre- 
sent, as we see from Mart. iv. 2, 

Spectabat modo solus inter omnes 

Nigris munus Horatius lacernis, 

Cum plebs et minor ordo maximusque 

Cum sancto duce candidus sederet. 

and xiv. 137, Lacernce alhce : 

Amphitheatrales nos commendamur in usus, 
Cum tegit algentes alba lacerna togas. 



Scene VIII.] THE DRESS OF THE MEN. 421 

The lacernge of the poorer classes were sufficiently unbecoming, as 
we may naturally suppose. Juven. ix. 27, 

Pingues aliquando lacernas 

Munimenta togse, diiri crassique coloris, 
Et male percussas textoris pectine Gralli 
Accipimus. 

Mart. i. 93. The higher ranks, however, displayed considerable 
luxury in this article, and as the rest of the dress was obliged to be 
white, took care not to have any lack of colours in the lacerna. 
Hence lacernce coccinece, Mart. xiv. 131, amethystince^ etc. A purple 
lacerna sometimes cost ten thousand sesterces. Mart. viii. 10. 
Darker colours were also used. 

THE SYNTHESIS. 

The toga, on account of the exuberance of its folds, and the 
manner of adjusting it, was too uncomfortable a garment to wear 
in common household avocations, or at meals [Spart. Hadr. 22 ; Sen. 
Ep. 18], at which, however, it would have been improper to appear 
in the bare tunic. Hence there were regular meal-dresses, vedes 
c(Bnatoriai, or coenatoria^ Mart. x. 87, 12, xiv. 135. [Cap. Maxim.jun. ; 
Dio Cass. Ixix. 18 ; Pompon. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 33, muliehria coenatoria.'] 
Petr. 21, accuhitoria ; ib. 30, also called syntheses. It would be 
difficult to say with certainty what the form of this synthesis was. 
It is usually assumed to have been a mantle, similar to the pallium. 
Ferrar. de re Vest. [Stuck. Antiq. Conviv. ii. 26.] Malliot and Mar- 
tin, Recherches sur les Costmnes, say, " They generally came from the 
bath to the coena, and then put on the synthesis, an exceedingly 
comfortable, short, and coloured garment." What Dio Cassius, xiii. 
13, says of Nero, appears at variance with this assertion. Tovg ck 
ßovXevrät; ^irwvtoj' ti ti'deSvKiog avi:ivov Kai (TivOoriov irepi rbv avx^va 
ex^v ii<7Trä(jaTo, if we compare it with Suet. iVero 51 : circa cultum 
hahitumque adeo pudendus, ut plerujnque synthesinam indutus ligato 
circum collum sudario prodierit in publicum sine cinctu et discalceatus ; 
for there can be no doubt that the xi^'wj'ioi' ävdivov answers to the 
synthesis, as the aiv^öviov does to the sudarium. In which case the 
synthesis would not be any kind of amictus, but an indumentum. 
Nothing of certainty can be gathered from the reliefs and pictures 
representing Triclinia, and Biclinia ; for in these, at one time a 
bare ungirded tunic is visible ; at another, the upper part of the 
body is quite uncovered ; but whatever its form, it was an elegant, 
and, at least in later times, a coloured garment. Martial ii. 46 : 

Florida per varies ut pingitur Hybla colores 
Cum breve Sicanise ver populantur apes : 



422 THE DRESS OP THE MEN. [Excursus I. 

Sic tua suppositis pellucent prsela lacernis, 
Sic micat innumeris arcula synthesibus. 

So X. 29, etc. Tlie colours most frequently named are coccinus, 
pi'asinus, amethystinus, iantliinus. Pliny, xxi, 8. The name came 
probably from their being carefully folded up and placed in a press. 
Martial, and Senec. de Tranq. An. c. i. Men who were particular 
about their appearance changed them in the middle of a meal. 
Mart. V. 79 : 

Undecies una surrexti, Zoile, coena, 
Et mutata tibi est synthesis undecies. 

The synthesis was never worn in public, except during the Satur- 
7ialia, when its use was universal, even by the highest classes, 
Mart. xiv. 1, 141 ; it was reckoned absurd to put on the toga at 
that time. Mart. vi. 24 : 

Nil lascivius est Charisiano ; 
Saturnalibus ambulat togatns. 

Synthesis is also used in a totally different sense, namely, as an 
entire wardrobe, or complete suit of apparel. Salmasius, ad Vopisc. 
Bojios. 15, p. 772. [Stat. Silv. iv. 9^ 44 ; Mart. iv. 46.] 

THE L^NA, ABOLLA, ENDROMIS. 

The names that are mentioned of usual articles of dress, as 
Icena and aholla, can hardly be determined on with certainty. It 
seems almost as if they were nearly similar to the lacerna. Of the 
former indeed Martial says (xiv. 136), Lcena, 

Tempore brumali non multum Isevia prosunt : 
Calfaciunt yilli pallia vestra mei ; 

from which it would appear to have been a particularly warm 
garment thrown on over the lacerna (pallia). [Varro L. L. v. 133 : 
Lcena quod de lana ^nulta, duarum etiam toyarum instar, Paall. 
p. 117.] Nonius calls it a vestimentum militare, quod siqjra oftmia 
vestimenta sumitur ; and in Cicero, Brut. 14, we find it mentioned 
as a priestly robe, but in Persius, i. 32, it again appears at the 
dinner-table. It was hyacinthina and coccina (Juv. iii. 283), not 
less than the lacerna, and just so is the aholla Tyria or saturata 
Tuurice. Mart. viii. 48. [Suet. Caliy. '^b^pmyurece ahollce.'] Perhaps 
at that period they all belonged to the coenatoria. See above. 

The endromis, which is mentioned in a few passages (Juven. vi. 
246 ; Mart. vi. 19, xiv. 126), was not a garment, but a thick piece 
of cloth, forming a coverlet, which was thrown round the body 
after gymnastic exercises, to prevent cold bsing taken ; in the same 



Scene VIII.] THE DEESS OF THE METs^. 423 

manner TrimalcHo, in Petron. 28^ after tlie iDatli, covers himself 
with a coccina gaiisapa. 

THE COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD. 

lis the every-day life of cities, men never wore anything on the 
head. In particular cases they drew the toga over the head. But 
for protection in bad weather, they had the cuculhis, also cucullio, 
a kind of cape, which on a journey, or when they wished to he 
unknown (ohvokdo capite, Lamprid. Heliog. 33. Juv. vi. 118, nockir- 
nos cucuUos), they used to fasten to the lacerna and psenula. 
Martial calls them lihurnicos or hardaicos, iv. 4, 5 : also hardoeu- 
cidlos, xiv. 128. See Salmas. ad Jul. Cap. Pertin.^ 8, p. 551. We 
see from Mart. xiv. 139, Cuculli lihurnici, 

Jüngere neseisti nohis, o stulte, lacernas : 
Indiieras albas, exue callainas, 

that they were of dark colour, and that the cucullus had stained 
the white lacerna. We also learn from Epig. xiv. 132, that it 
belonged to the lacerna : 

Si possem, totas cuperem misisse lacernas ; 
Nunc tantum capiti munera mitto tuo. 

It is true he sends not a cucullus, but a pileus ; but had he been 
able to send totas lacernas (i. e. vdth the cucullus), the hat would 
have been unnecessary. [See Mart. xi. 98, v. 14, x. 76. — The 
cuculli were often worn by slaves and common people as a protec- 
tion against the weather j Colum. i. 8. Lamprid. Hel. 33, tectus 
cuculUone midion{co.~\ 

They wore hats on a journey ; [hence given to fishermen and 
sailors generally, Plaut. Mil. iv. 4, 41 : 

Facito, nt venias hue ornatus ornatu nauclerico 
Causiam habens ferrugineam. 

Mus. Borh. iv. 55], and even in the theatre, as a shelter against 
the sun. Dio Cass. lix. 7. [Mart. xiv. 29, Causia : 
In Pompeiano tectus spectabo theatro : 
Nam ventus populo vela negare solet.] 

Augustus generally wore a petasus, Suet. 82 : Solis vero ne hiberni 
quidem pattens domi quoque non nisi petasatus sub divo spatiahatur. 
[The pileus and petasus were made of felt. Yates, teoctrinum 
antiquum.'] 

THE COVERINGS OF THE LEGS. 

Trowsers, hraccce, were quite unknown to the Romans, until the 
time of the later emperors. They belonged to the Barbarians, who 



424 THE DRESS OF THE MEN. [Excursus I. 

wore them mostly in the shape of wide pantaloons, which were tied 
just ahove the foot ; so we see them on the Columna Trajana, and 
in the figures of the prisoners belonging to it. See the great work 
of Piranesi, and the pillar itself. Comp. Gas. ad Suet. Aug. 82 ; 
Salm, ad Lamprid, Alex. Sev. 40, p. 977 ; Böttiger, Vaseng. iii. p. 
184. The Barbarians were ridiculed for wearing them, Cic. in Pis. 
23 ; p. Font. 11 ; ad Fam. ix. 15. [Ovid, Trist, v. 10, 33.] It was 
not tiU the time of the un-roman emperors, or those who had 
grown up among the Barbarians, that trowsers came into fashion, 
cocdnece hracccB, instead of which Alexander chose white ones. 
Men who had served long in war against the Northern nations, 
assumed their dress, and likewise trowsers. Tac. Hist. ii. 20, of 
Cagcina, versicolore sagulo, braccas, tegmen harharum, indidus togatos 
alloquehatur. But this was not allowed publicly at Home, and 
Honorius forbade their being worn in the metropolis : see Sal- 
masius. [Lyd. de Mag. 1. 12.] 

Instead of these coverings for the legs, the Romans had, how- 
ever partially, so early as the Bepublic, strips of cloth, fascias 
(Varro De Lib. Educ. in Non. ii. 312 ; Cic. in Clod, et Cur. 5, Or. de 
har. resp. 21 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 255), with which they protected the 
thighs and shin-bones, and thence called feniinalia and cruralitty 
and also tibialia. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 25 ; Suet. Aug. ^'^jfeminali- 
bus et tibialibus muniebatur. Quinct. xi. 3, 144. Many persons wore, 
in addition to these, sashes, villosa ventralia (Plin. viii. 48), and 
wrappers round the neck and ems, focalia. See Heind. on Hor. 
Sat. ii. 3, 255. All these were, however, considered marks of 
effeminacy. [The word cubital, Hor. ib. (fasciolas, cubital, focalia) 
is explained by some to be a cushion, by others a covering of the 
lower arm corresponding to fascics and focalia. But then it would 
hardly be in the singular number.] 

THE COVERINGS OF THE FEET. 

These were very numerous, but may be classed in two sorts, 
the calceus and the solece, which certainly both occur in very dif- 
ferent forma. It is almost doubtful whether the multifarious 
names which are used to designate these articles of dress can with 
certainty be applied to the forms which occur on statues ; for what 
Rubens [de Calce Senatorio'] and Balduin (Calceus Antiq. et Myst.) 
have said upon the subject, does not clear up all the points, 
[although Balduin was the son of a shoemaker, and understood 
the matter.] Bittner's Diss, de Calceis is still less important. 
[Bassius de Gen. Calceorum. See Fabric. Bibliog. Antiq. p. 861, and 



Scene VIII.] THE DRESS OF THE MEN. 



425 



Charides, trans, by MetcaKe, p. 826.] It will therefore be sufficient 
to enumerate the chief varieties. 




a b Solece of the ordinary form. 

c Half -shoes, after a painting found at Portici- 

d The common shoe. 

e A man's shoe, perhaps the calceus senatorius. 



The solece, sandals, were a covering for the foot, which was worn 
by men only in the house, or more correctly, in domestic life. [In 
the oldest times they probably wore nothing.] In Gellius xiii. 21, 
T. Castricius reproaches his former scholars, who were already 
senators, for appearing soleati in public. Stül this restriction can- 
not be so far extended, as to say that no use at all of the solea 
was made in the streets ; for when they supped out and did not 
bathe in the house of their host, the soleee were the usual covering 
for the feet, and were taken off as soon as they reclined for the 
meal, and not put on again till they went away. Mart. iii. 50. 
Hence they were sometimes lost in the interim ; Mart. xii. 88 : 

Bis Cotta soleas perdidisse se qiiestus, 
Dum negligentem ducit ad pedes vernam. 

Hence the common expression deme soleas, of the person who takes 
his place at the table, and poscere soleas, when he rises to go. 
Heindorf ad Ilor. Sat. ii. 8, 77. From Pliny Ep. ix. 17, it would 
appear that calceus is sometimes a general term for any covering 
of the foot. 

The form of the solese and the manner of fastening them, are 
gathered from Gellius, and may also be seen in many antique 
statues, particularly of females, whose proper foot-covering they 
were. Generally a thong passes between the great and second toe, 
and is there fastened to another by means of a Ugula, which passes 
longitudinally over the upper surface of the foot, and with the 



426 THE DEESS OF THE ITE^. [Excuksus I. 

anHe-thong keeps the whole secure. Sometimes this thong is 
divided j ust at the toe into two parts, which run along the instep, 
and are fastened by ligulee to the ankle-thong. 

As they were used in-doors, and in private life, so in later times, 
out of doors also, when a person was without the toga, wearing 
over the tunica the lacerna only, in conjunction with which the 
solese always occur. To the toga belonged the calceus, a real shoe, 
which covered the foot entirely, or in a great measure ; it was the 
only foot-covering in general use in public life, and hence is often 
mentioned as belonging to the toga. Thus Cicero, Cum toga et 
calceis. Pliny (^Epist. vii. 3), charging Praesens with his long absence 
from Pome, says : Quousque calcei nusquarn, toga feriata ? Tertull. 
(DepaUio,6) : Calceos nihil dicwius, proprium tog ce tormentum. But 
at home the calceus was laid aside with the toga. Cic. p. Mil. 20, 
domum venit, calceos et vestimenta mutat. It is true that Suet, says 
of Augustus (Oct. 78), post cihum ita id vestitus calceatusque erat 
conquiescehat ; but here, calceatus is used in a more general sense. 
He says (73), forensia autem et calceos nimquam non intra cuhiculum 
hahuit ad suhitos repentinosque casus parata. So Plin. JEp. ix. 17, 
calceos poscimt, instead of soleas. Comp. Cic. de Hep. i. 12. The 
form of this shoe used by the lower classes [called pero by Cato, in 
Fest. p. 142, and Virg. ^n. vii. 690] is not known. In a beautiful 
but mutilated picture from Pompeii (Mus. Borb. vii. 20), a female 
slave is divesting a sitting man of his shoes, which have quite the 
form of the high shoes usual among us, and tied in front with a 
string ; see the engraving above. But that this was no common 
shoe, as might be supposed from its shape, is evident from the per- 
son wearing it, and from the circumstance that most of the charm- 
ing female dancers (Mus. Borh. 33 — 40) have the same covering for 
the feet. These shoes are sometimes white, sometimes green, but 
mostly yellow (cerince), tied with red strings or narrow thongs, and 
must therefore be rather taken as women's shoes. On the other 
hand, we know that the shoes of the senators differed in more than 
one respect from those of others ; and Cicero alludes to this, Phil. 
xiii. 13. The chief difference was, that the senator's shoe was 
fastened with four thongs (corrigice), which reached up to the calf, 
and were then turned round the leg \_Lora 2yatricia, Sen, de Tranq. 
An. 11.] See Heind. on Hor. Sat. i. 6, 27. The second distinction 
was the lunula, a half-moon, which was attached to some part of it. 
Plutarch (Qucest. R. 76) gives the derivation from the original 
number of the senators, C. Comp. Mart. i. 50, 31 ; Juven. vii. 192. 
[Zon. vii. 9.] In Philostr. (Vit. Herod. Att. ii. 8), this lunula is 
called e7n(T(pvpiov tXeipdvrn'ov jtt>jj'06(0«Cj and then he says, av t?)v 



Scene VIII.] THE DEESS OF THE MEN. 427 

tvy'fvaav iv toiq aarpayaXoiQ fx^c- On tlie otlierhand^ Martial says^ 
ii. 29 : 

Non hesterna sedet lunata lingula planta. 

We are not aware whether this mark occurs in any statue, and yet 
we might take such foot-coverings as occur in the statue in Mus. 
Borh. vii. 49, for the calceus senatorins (see the engraving above). 
According to Cicero, we must believe that only senators wore it ; 
and according to Cato in Festus, those qui magistratum curulem 
cepissent. On the contrary, Plutarch and Philostratus speak only 
of the evykvEia ] and the person designated by Martial was anything 
but a senator. Comp. Isid. Orig. xix. 34, 4. [Probably there were 
three sorts of these shoes, though they differed but slightly from 
each other : (1) Mullens, or the curule shoe. Lyd. de Mag. i. 32. 
(2) The senatorial shoe. Cic. and Acron. ad Hor. (3) The patri- 
cian shoe. Plut. ih. -, Zon. ih. ; Orell. 54.3, calceis patriciis. Lyd. i. 17.] 
From the words of Horace, ut nigris medium impediit crus pelli- 
hus, and of Juvenal, nigr<s lunam suhtexit alut<^, it has been inferred 
that the shoe was black ; but Martial expressly adds, Coccina non 
Imsum cingit aluta pedem ; and if this very shoe be rightly supposed 
to have been the mulleus, which had passed among so many other 
things from the Etrurians to the Eomans, there is no doubt that it 
was red, and that the above passage can only be understood of the 
four corrigise. See Salm. ad Vopisc. Aurel. 49, 588 ; Müller, Etrusk. 
i. 269. The mulleus was red, whatever the etymology of the word 
may be. See Isid. Oj^g. xix. 34, 10. [Plin. H. N. ix. 17 : comp. Dio 
Cass, xliii. 43. The mulleus differed perhaps in colour from the two 
other kinds. Lyd. i. 17, 32, says the shoes of the consuls were white, 
those of the patricians, black.] Otherwise the men wore only black 
and white shoes, and the latter only in later times, when variously 
coloured ones were also used. They were borrowed from the 
women's apparel, and hence Aurelian forbade men from wearing 
them. Vopisc. 49. [The crepidce were accounted un-roman (Pers. i. 
127, in erepidis Graiorum. Tertull. de Pall. 4 ; Plin. xxxiii. 3, 14), 
and are always mentioned along with the CUamys and Pallium. 
Cic. p. Rah. 10; Liv. xxix. 19; Suet. Tih. 1-3, deposito patrio hahitu 
redegit se ad pallium et crepidas. Gell. (xiii. 21) makes them the 
same as the soleae (so Heindorf ad Hor. Sat. i. 3, 127), but they 
certainly differed ; so that his assertion is no more to be relied on 
than that of Servius, ad Virg. JEn. viii. 458, who calls the calceus 
senatorius a crepida. Isidor. xix. 34. The caligse of a later age were 
chiefly used by the military (Brisson, Atitiq. Sei. ii. 6), but were also 
used in common life. JEdict. Dioclet. p. 24, On Compagus, see Salmas. 
ad Treb. Poll. Gallien. 16; Lyd. de Mag. i. 17.] 



428 THE DRESS OF THE MEN. [Excursus I. 

The poorer classes generally were clothed in the same manner, 
only that there was naturally a diiFerence in the colour and texture 
of the materials used, and the elegance of the garments of the 
higher ranks was altogether wanting. So Juvenal describes the 
'pau'peres, iii. 148 : 

si fceda et scissa lacerna, 
Si toga sordidula est et rupta calceus alter 
Pelle patet ; vel si consuto vulnere crassum 
Atque recens linum ostendit non una cicatrix. 

Many men in good circumstances also did not go better clad, either 
from negligence, as the Schol. Cruq. on Hor. 8at. i. 3, 31, relates 
of Virgil, or from avarice, as Scaevola, who had suddenly become 
wealthy. Mart. i. 104 : 

Sordidior post hoc multo toga, paenula pejor ; 
Calceus est sarta terque quaterque cute. 

The labouring classes could not, of course, make much use of the 
toga. 

The slaves wore only a tunica. 

THE BEARD AND HAIE. 

In ancient times the Romans wore beards, Liv. v. 41. Cic. p. 
del. 14. The first tonsor is said to have come to Rome from 
Sicily, A. V. c. 454. Varro JR. R. ii. 11. Plin. H. N. vii. 59 ; and 
from that time they shaved ; Gell. iii. 4. Hence most of the male 
statues, down to the second century, are beardless. The poorer 
classes did not shave generally. Mart. vii. 95 : 

Dependet glacies rigetque barba 

Qualem forfieibus metit supinis 

Tonsor Cinyphio Cilix marito. 

xii. 59. Young fops only shaved partially, [Sen. Ep. 114], and 
sported a neat little beard {bene hui-hati, Cic. Cat. ii. 10, p. Ccel. 
14 ; or barhatidi, ad Att. i. 14, 16, p. Ccel. 14.) The day of shaving 
the beard for the first time was observed as a festival, Dio Cass, 
xlviii. 34 ; Ixi. 19. Salm. ad Lamprid. Heliog. 31. From Hadrian's 
time, beards again came into fashion, as is evident from the im- 
perial portraits. Dio Cass. Ixviii. 15 ; Spart. Hadr. 26. — The hair 
was worn cut short ; in case of mourning only, it, as well as the 
beard, was allowed to grow. See Excursus, Sc. XII. 

In the tonstrince, the hair was cut, the beard shorn, and the 
nails cleaned. The shearing of the beard took place either per 
pectinem^ over the comb, when it was only shortened, tondebatur, or 
it was shaved clean from the skin, radebatur, with the razor, nova- 
cula, which the tonsor kept in a theca. Petr. 94. The passage in 



Scene VIIL] THE DRESS OF THE MEN. 429 

Plaut. Capt. ii. 2, 16, is amusing on account of the play upon tlie 
word tondere. 

Nunc senex est in tonstrina : nunc jam cultros attinet — 
Ne id quidem involucre injicere voluit, vestem ne inquinet. 
Sed utrum, strictimne attonsurum dieam esse, an per pectinem 
Nescio ; verum si frugi est, usque admutilabit probe. 

Many persons plucked out tlie stray hairs from the face with fine 
pincers, volsellce, or destroyed them by means of salves, psilothnim, 
and dropax, as well as those on other parts of the body. Mart. 
iü. 74 : 

Psilothro faciem levas et dropace calvam. 

Num quid tonsorem, Gargiliane, times ? 
Quid facient ungues ? nam certe non potes illos 

Eesina, Veneto nee resecare luto. 

comp. vi. 90, 9. The ingredients of such salves are given by Plin. 
xxxii. 10, 47. The volsellse for plucking out the beard are men- 
tioned by Martial (ix. 28), who jokes at a man who shaved his 
beard in three waj^s, viii. 47. Almost all the implements of the 
tonsor are enumerated by Plaut. Curcul. iv. 4, 21 : 

At ita me volsellse, pecten, speculum, calamistrum meum 
Bene me amassint, meaque axicia, linteumque extersui. 

Persons of wealth and distinction had their own barber among the 
slave-family, who, if skilful, was much prized. Hence we read in 
Martial an epitaphium on such a slave, Pantagathus by name, who 
is called domini cur a dolorque sui, vi. 52. Still the majority repaired 
to the tonstrince, which became places of resort, visited by idlers for 
the sake of gossiping, and where they used to stop long after the 
tonsor had fulfilled his duty upon them. 



THE KINGS. 

We will now say a few words about the rings. The Romans 
wore one signet-ring, at least, and to judge by the statues, generally 
on the fourth finger of the left hand, or the gold-finger, as it is 
called. Ateius Capito in Macrob. Sat. vii. 13, gives another 
account as regards the more ancient period. It is known that 
these rings were in the beginning of iron, and that the golden 
ones were among the distinctions of the higher classes, as we find 
in Forcell. Thes, ; and Rup. on Juv. xi. 43. Afterwards, however, 
vain persons, desirous of displaying their wealth, had their hands 
literally covered with rings, so that Quinctilian (xi. 3) gives thi, 



430 THE DRESS OF THE MEN. [Excursus I. 

special direction for the speaker, Manns non impleatur annulL^, 
'prmoipue medios aiiiculos noti transeuntihus. Mart. xi. 59 : 

Senos Cliarinus omnibus digitis gerit, 

Nee nocte ponit, anniüos, 
Nee cum lavattir. Causa quse sit quseritis ? 

Dactyliothecam non habet. 

Some persons had particular cases (dactyliothecce) for their nume- 
rous rings, which were stuck there in a row. Comp. xiv. 123. 
[Ulp. Big. xxxii. 1, 52 ; Plin. H. N. xxxvii. 1. A bronze dactylio- 
theca has been preserved,] Rings of immoderate size were also 
worn, as the same poet says, with bitter satire, of Zoilus, who, from 
a slave, had become an eques (xi. 37) : 

Zoile, quid tota gemmam prsecingere libra 
Te juvat, et miserum perdere sardonycha ? 

Annulus iste tuis fuerat modo cruribus aptus ; 
Non eadem digitis pondera conveniunt ; 

and the effeminate Crispinus had lighter rings for the summer than 
for the winter ', one of the absurdities that made Juvenal exclaim : 

Difficile est satiram non scribere. 



EXCUESUS IL SCENE VIII. 



THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. 

AN antiquarian would "be sadly at fault, had he to write a 
history of the fashions in female dress at Rome, or eyen to 
explain the terms which occur in connexion with the subject. 
The meaning of such names generally vanishes with the fashion 
that gave rise to them, and less than a century afterwards there 
is no tradition that can give any satisfactory intelligence ahout 
the peculiarity of a stuff or a particular form of dress. Commen- 
tators must fail, for the most part, in their attempts to explain 
the various articles of fashion mentioned in Plaut. Aul iii. o, and 
£pid. ii. 2 ; and the old grammarians, who are much too ready 
to explain the nature of such things by the first suitable etymology 
they can meet with, can be but little trusted, since the fashions 
of earlier times were probably quite as incomprehensible to them 
as they are to us. 

Whoever therefore intends to treat concerning the dress of 
the Roman ladies, will do well to confine himself to generalities, 
and this is the more satisfactory, as the several articles of dress 
always remained the same in the main, and the modes appear 
to have extended mostly only to the stuff or quality, or to the other 
accessories, which are of no importance. K we go through the 
catalogue in Plaut. JE2nd. v. 39, 

Quid erat induta ? an regillain indiiciüam, an mendiculam 
Impluviatam ? ut istse faciunt vestimentis nomina. — ■ 
Quid istse, quae vesti quotannis nomina inveniunt nova : 
Tunicam rallam, tunicam spissam, linteolum ceesitium, 
Indusiatam, patagiatam, caltulam, aut erocotidam, 
Supparum, aut subminiam, ricam, basilioum aut exoticum, 
Cumatile, aut plumatile, carinum, aut gerrinum ; 

we may easily see that, in spite of all the obscurity of the names, 
they refer almost throughout to a difference in the stuff. But a 
stronger evidence of the unaltered condition of the national dress 
down to a very late period, is to be foimd in the numerous 
monuments of art, which only differ from each other in the 
selection by the artist in each case of the most favourable drapery, 
but always exhibit the same leading articles of dress. 

The complete costume of a Roman lady consisted of three 
chief portions, the tunica hüerior, the stola, and the palla. 



432 THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

The tunica interior, it is erroneously supposed, is also called, in 
the case of the women, iiidusium, or intusium, according as the word 
is derived from indiiere, or with Varro, L. L. v. 30, from intus. In- 
terula appears to be a word of the latest period, and is used of the 
^Mmeaboth of men and women. Appul. i^or.ii.32; 7Jfe^«m. viii. 533, 
and frequently in Vopiscus ; it therefore seems to mean nothing 
more than tunica intima in Gell. x. 15. Appuleius also mentions 
indusiati pueri, but only in cases where a deviation from custom 
takes place. The tunica interior was a simple shift, which, at least in 
earlier times, had not sleeves, any more than originally the Greek 
XiTMv. According to Non. xiv. 18, it sat closely to the body 
(though this must hardly be taken in a strict sense), and was not 
girded whenever the second tunica was put on. Supposing it was only 
worn within doors, this might have been the case, but the assumption 
that the semicinctium was particularly destined for this purpose, is 
entirely arbitrary. For in Martial (xiv. 153, Semicinctium) : 
Det tunicam dives ; ego te prgecingere possum. 
Essem si locuples, munus utrumque dareni. 

it is to be taken as the girdle of the tunica virorum, and so in Petr. 94. 
Stays for compressing the form into an unnatural appearance of 
slimness, were not known to the ancients, and would have been an 
abomination in their eyes. In Terent. £un. ii. 3, 21 : 

Haud similis virgo est virginum nostrarum, quas matres student 

Demissis hnmeris esse, vincto peetore, ut gracilse sient. 

Si qua est habitior paullo, pugilem esse aiunt ; deducunt cibum. 

Tametsi bona'st natura, reddunt curatura junceas. 

a severe censure is conveyed of so unnatural a taste, which is 
confirmed by all the monuments of art. Still we should be in 
error if we supposed that a girl in those days, even though vincto 
peetore, was provided with stays. All they had was a bosom-band, 
strophium, mamillare, for the purpose of elevating the bosom, and 
also perhaps to confine somewhat the nimius tumor. We must not 
confound with this what Martial calls the fascia pectoralis, xiv. 134 : 
Fascia crescentes dominse compesce papillas, 
Ut sit quod capiat nostra tegatque manus. 
Such fascice, as is evident from his own words, were worn to confine 
the breast in its growth, and were consequently not a part of the 
usual dress. This is also meant by Terence ; on which see Stall- 
baum's note, and Seal, ad Van: L. L. iv. 59. 

But the strophium was placed over the inner tunica, as we see 
from the fragment of Tui-pilius in Non. xiv. 8 : 

Me miseram ! Quid agam ? Inter vias epistola cecidit mihi, 
Infelix inter timiculam ac strophium quam coUocaveram. 



Scene VIII.] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEK 433 

It appears to have been usually of leather, at least Martial, xiv. 66, 
alludes to this, Maraillare : 

Taiirino poteras pectus constringere tergo ; 
Nam pellis mammas non capit ista tuas. 

and for this reason is called by Catull. 64, 65, tereti stropliio liietan- 
tes vincta papillas. Böttiger's statement, that strophmtn was not 
called mamillare, except when designed to gird in the too much 
developed bosom, is perfectly groundless, and contradicted by the 
same Epigram of Martial, who says that the mamillare of which he 
speaks, is not sufficient for so large a breast. 

Over the tunica interior was drawn the stola, also a tunica but 
with sleeves, which, however, in general, only covered the upper 
part of the arm. These were not sewn together, but the opening 
on the outer side was fastened by clasps, as was frequently the case 
with the tunica without sleeves, the parts of which covering the 
breast and back were only fastened over the shoulders by means of 
2ißhula. [Isidor. xix. Sl,ßoul<:s stmt quibus pectus femmaru?n ornatur 
vel pallium tenetur. See Mus. Borh. vii. 48.] The matter is rendered 
clearest by monuments, such as the bronze statue in the Mus. Borh. 
ii. t. 4, although the dress be not Roman. The girl there repre- 
sented is just about to fasten the two parts over the shoulders, and 
these, as well as a part of the breast, are still uncovered. Although 
the stola generally had sleeves, it is sometimes found without them, 
as in the statue of Livia represented in the following engraving 
from the Mus. Borb. iii. t. 37, in which the under tunica had sleeves, 
but the upper none : it is fastened high up, above the shoulder, by 
means of a riband-like clasp, so that the front and back part have 
no other fastening. The statue given by Visconti, Momim. Gabini, 
34, seems to be clad in the same manner. In the half-bronze figure 
in the Mus. Borb. viii. t. 59, the under tunica only has sleeves, 
while the upper is provided with arm-holes, without clasps. What 
distinguished this upper tunica from the lower one, and rendered it 
a stola, or, at all events, was never absent, was the instita ; according 
to Böttiger a broad flounce, sewn on to the lower skirt. This is 
what in Poll. vii. 54, is called gtoKi^idtoq xirdJv. But this does not 
agree with the remarks of the Scholiast of Cruquius on the chief 
passage concerning this article of dress. Hor. iSaf. i. 2, 29 : 
Sunt qui nolunt tetigisse nisi illas, 
Quarum subsuta talos tegit instita veste. 

He says : quia matroncs stola utuntur ad imos usque pedes demissa, 
cu/us imam partem ambit instita subsuta, id est, conjuncta. Instita 
autem Greece dicitur TrtpnrsSiXoi', quod stolce subsuebatur, qua matronce 
utebantur : erat enim tenuissima fasciola, que preetextce adjiciehatur. 



43 i THE DEESS OF THE WOMEX. [Excuksus II. 




If tlie Scholiast be right, we must consider it to have been a narrow 
flounce, sewn on under the strip of purple. Ovid, Art. Am. i. 32^ 
does not disagree with this : 

Quseque tegis medios instita longa pedes ; 
for longa could in no case be understood of the breadth of the 
flounce, but only of its reaching far down. This, however, would 
not exclude the possibility of its having been also worn broader. 

While the under tunica did not reach much beyond the knee, 
the stola was longer than the whole figure, and was consequently 
girded in such a manner that it made a quantity of broad folds 
under the breast, and the instita reached down to the feet, which it 
half covered. Hence Non. xiv. 6 : omnem (vestem) qucB corpus 
teyeret; and Ennius in Non. iv. 49 : Et qnis illcsc est, quce Ivf/nhri 



Scene YIII.] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. 435 

succincta est stola ? In the case of ladies of distinction, tlie stola 
also was ornamented on the neck witli a coloured stripe, but whether 
it was of purple, as Böttiger asserts, there seems to be considerable 
doubt. Ferrarius (de re Vest. iii. 20) has shewn (from Nonius, xiv. 
19, Patagiuni aureus clavus, qui pretiosis vestibus immitti solet ; and 
Tertull. de Pall. S, ^javo est pluma omni patagio i?iai6j^atior, quaterga 
fulgent^ that it was a strip of gold, and he defends this opinion also 
in the Analecta, 2. It was then a similar decoration to the clavus 
among the men : see Excursus on the 3Iale Dress. See also Yarro, 
L. L. yiii. 28 : quuni dissi7nilUma sit virilis toga tunicce, midiehris 
stola paUio ; ix. 48, x. 27. The account of Isidor. xix. 25, Stola 
7nat?'onale operimentum, quod cooperto capite et scapula a dextro 
latere in Icemmi humerum mittitur, is wrong. 

The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman matrons, as 
the toga was for the Roman citizens. The lihertince and mei'etrices 
differed thus much from them, that they wore a shorter tunica 
without instita, and the latter a dark-coloured toga. Hence in 
Horace (Sat. i. 2, 63), the togata is opposed to the matrona, and 
the same opposition occurs in Tib. iv, 10, 3, 

Si tibi cura toga est potior, pressumque quasillo 
Scortum, quam Sei'vi filia Sulpicia. 

and in this sense, Martial says in defence of his frivolous Epigrams 
(i. 36, 8) : 

Quis Floralia vestit, et stolatum 

Permittit meretricibus pudorem ? 

Indeed the matrona found guilty of incontinence lost the right of 
wearing the stola, and had to exchange it for the toga. So the 
scholiast of Cruquius relates on the above passage of Horace : 
Matronen quce a maritis repudiabantur p>ropter adidterium, togam 
acci^nebanf, sublata stola alba propter ignominiam, meretrices aidem 
prostare solebant cum togisimllis, id discernerentur a matronis adidterii 
convictis et danmaiis, quce togis albis utebantur. To this refer the 
passages adduced by Heindorf, in Martial, ii. 39, and vi. 64, 4. 

Next to this came the jiolln, which, however, was only worn out 
of doors, and was to the women what the toga was to the men. 
The fashion of wearing it was similar to that of the toga, and will 
therefore be better ex[ lained along with the latter. It is reason- 
able to suppose, that as the men were extremely particular in the 
adjustment of the toga, the women would be still more so about 
the most ornamental and advantageous way of arranging the palla. 
It fell more or less low, sometimes down to the feet, according to 
the pleasure of the wearer, but was not allowed to drag along the 
ground. It has been already shown from Ovid (A7no?\ iii. 13, 24), 

F F 2 



436 THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

that Böttiger goes too far when lie adds : ' For at the theatre alone 
were trains allowed to the Heroes and Citharoedae of Antiquity. 
Ottfr. Müller, Etrusk. ii. 46, has also explained the passage in the 
old and untenable manner, and we therefore proceed to a further 
justification of the explanation given. He says, in speaking of the 
worship of Juno at Falerii (this is the moenia Camillo victa of Ovid, 
for at this period the ruins only of Veii existed, Prop. iv. 10, 27), 
^ A j30W2;^a was joined with the annual great sacrifices, the festive 
path was laid with carpets.' For the latter assertion, Ovid, v. 12 
and 24, and Dionys. i. 21, are referred to. But in Dionysius, 
nothing at all is to be found about such a covering for the way, and 
Ovid's words cannot be so explained. For when he says (v. 13), 

It per velatas annua pompa vias, 
the velatce vies mean streets adorned with foliage and festoons of 
flowers, as in Virg. ^n. ii. 249, and Ovid, Trist, iv. 2, 3. But the 
second passage (v. 23, seq.). 

Qua Ventura dea est, juvenes timidyeque puellae 
Prseverrunt latas veste jacente vias. 

which is the most important one, admits only of the explanation 
here given. It is the trailing garments (vestis Jacens) of those pre- 
ceding, which sweep the way, as it were. So says Statins (Achill. 
i. 262) : Si decet aurata Bacchum vestigia palla Verrei'e. That 
vestis jacens may, in the case even of a person walking, signify the 
garment which touches the ground, is clear from a passage in Ovid 
(Amor. iii. 1, 9) : 

Venit et ingenti violenta Tragcodia passu ; 
Fronte comae torva ; palla jacebat humi. 

There were therefore cases besides at the theatre, in which the palla, 
contraiy to the usual habit, was allowed to trail along the ground. 
Though there may be no doubts about the essential nature of 
these different portions of female attire, still the names stola and 
palla have received an entirely different interpretation from others. 
Rubens, for instance, does this, and the same explanation, in the 
main, is to be found in Ottfried Miiller's Handhuch d. Archäol, 475, 
where the stola is taken to mean the under tunica, the palla to be a 
sort of upper tunica, while in place of the palla, as explained above, 
the amicidiim is substituted. Probably this explanation is based on 
the obscure passage of Varro, v. 131, where the palla is mentioned 
among those articles of dress, quce indutui sunt. But this account 
of Varro's is at variance with aU that is said elsewhere, and with 
Varro himself, de J'ita Pop. Rom. in Non. xvi. 13 : ut, dum supra 
terram essent, ricinis lugerent ; funere ipso ut pullis pallis amictce. 
Without laying too much stress on the word a7niciri,'smce amictus 



Scene VIII.] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. 437 

and indtdus are often interclianged by the poets, tlius much is clear, 
that the palla took the place of the ricinus, and belonged to the 
amictus. It is hard to reconcile this contradiction; but it has been 
shown above, that the palla in the best Roman period, and even 
later, was a garment thrown round the person. This is further 
clear from Appul. Metam. xi. 758 : ^jaZ/a splendescens atro nitore, 
qiicB circumcirca remeanSj et sub deatrmn latus ad humerum lavuni 
recurrens umbords vicem dejecta parte lacinice multiplici contabulatione 
dependida ad ultimas oras nodulis fimbriarum decoriter conßuctuabat. 
It was adjusted, therefore, like the toga. Sometimes the extremity, 
which hangs in front over the left shoulder, was drawn under the 
right arm behind, as in the statue of Livia. It need only be 
further remarked, that it is the upper tunica which in all monu- 
ments reaches to the feet, and that consec[uently there would be 
nothing visible of the stola (taken as an under-garment) with its 
instita, which is nevertheless the distinguishing garment of the 
Roman matron ; that the words of Hor. Sat. i. 2, 99, 
Ad talos stola demissa et circumdata palla, 
do not at all allow of the latter being explained as an indumentum ; 
that amiculum is a general expression, which is equally used of the 
men and of the women, Petr. 11 ; that we cannot refer to Plaut. 
Cist. i. 1, 117, and Fcen. i. 2, 136, as these passages do not even 
allude to the Roman dress, and the word there used is merely a 
translation of the Greek 'i\xä-iov \ that Ovid, Met. xiv. 263, affords 
just as little proof (Comp. Odyss. v. 230) ; and that we cannot draw 
any inference as to what the palla was from Livy, xxvii. 4, regincB 
pallam pictam cum amiculo pmpureo. It will therefore be necessary 
to adduce some ngw and authentic arguments, before we can con- 
sent to give up the explanation defended by Ferrarius, and recog- 
nised by Böttiger and Heindorf as a correct one. 

We cannot assent to the latter, when on 8at. i. 8, 23, Vidi egotnet 
nigra succinetam vadere palla Canidiam, he supposes that palla is 
poetically used for tunica. Canidia comes, palla succincta legendis 
in sinum ossibus herbisque nocentibus. [Herzberg supposes that the 
palla was the upper tunica of the women, but that it denoted like- 
wise, in a special sense, the short over-cloak which the matrons 
threw over the stola, when they appeared in public. At all events, 
Becker's explanation does not accord with all the passages of the 
classics ; and the palla must therefore be taken in a wider sense. 
In the following places palla is most probably a kind of mantle. 
Hor. Sat. i. 2, 99 j Varro in Non. ; Sidon. AjjoU. xv. 13. See above. 
Likewise Isidor. xix. 25, est quadrum pallium 7nuliebris vestis deduc- 
tum usque ad vestigia. But elsewhere it only signifies a tunica. So 



438 THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus IT. 

in the difficult passage of Varro, L. L. v, 103. Auct. ad Her. iv. 47. 
Ut citharcedus palla inaurata indidusycum chlamy de purpurea (where 
palla signifies the tunic, and chlamys the mantle.) So in Liv. 
xxvii. 4, palla and amiculum must be so explained; and Ovid. 
Met xiv. 262 : 

Siiblimis solio pallamque induta nitentem 

Insuper aurato, circumvelatur amictii. 
and vi. 481 : 

Induitur pallam tortoque incingitur angue. 
where palla is a tunic, as Tisiphone was girded with a snake, which 
would have been impossible, had it been a mantle. In the next 
place, the palla is sometimes described as a loug, at others as a 
short garment. Ovid, Amor. iii. 13, 26 : 

Et tegit auratos palla superba pedes. 
But in Mart. i. 93 : 

Dimidiasque nates Grallica palla tegit. 
From this twofold shape, the palla was thought by some gram- 
marians to be something between the mantle and tunic. So Non. 
xiv. 7, tunicce pallium ; Sen. ad Virg. jEn. i. 6 j Schol. Cruq. ad 
Mor. Sat. i. 2, 99, timicopallium. And this is most probable. So 
that the palla would be a broad upper tunic of greater or less 
length, which when ungirded, resembled a pallium ; but when 
girded did not in the least differ from the stola. (Sen. Troad. i. 91, 
cinyat palla tunicas solutas.) In the latter case, a mantle might 
be, also worn over it ; in the first it served as a mantle itself. This 
garment was the dress of Citharcedce, and actors, as is plain from 
the above passage ad Her. and Ovid, Amor. ii. 18, 15, iii. 1, 12 ; 
Suet. Cal. 54. Courtesans and adulterii damnatce were not entitled 
to wear the palla or the stola.] 

The 1-icinium was a kind of veil. Fest. p. 277 : Biece et rictdce 
vocantur pai-va ricinia id j^Miola ad usum capitis. Varro, L. L. 
V. 132 : ah rejicicndo ricinium dictum^ quod ditnidiam partem retror- 
sumjaciehant. Non. xiv. 33 : Iticinium quod nunc Mavortium dicitnr. 
[Isidor. xix. 25, calls it riainium and Mavors, and even stola, 
which is a mistake.] These expressions [as well as^amw?ez/w] be- 
longed to an earlier period, and continued to be used only in respect 
to t\\Qßaminica. But the fact, that they covered the head with a 
veil, always remained. 

[Females used the same sort of coverings for the feet as men ; 
only that their soleae and calcei were more ornamented, and in 
brighter colours. 

Lastly, must be mentioned the fans and parasols. The former, 
ßahella, were used both to keep off troublesome insects, (for which 



Scene VIIL] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEJs^ 439 

purpose tlie muscarium was also used, Mart. xiv. 71) ; and also to 
cool^ as our fans. Ter. Eun. iii. 5, 47 : 

Cape hoc flabellum et ventulum, huic sic facito dum lavamus. 
Oy. Amor. iii. 2, 27 : 

Vis tarnen interea faciles arcessere ventos, 
Quos faciat nostra mota tabella manu. 

AI. faciant—ßaheUa, comp. Art. Am. i. 161. They were generally of 
peacocks' feathers, and other light materials, as thin plates of wood. 
Prop. ii. 18, 59 : 

Et modo pavonis caudse flabella superbi. 
Claudian. in Eutrop. i. 108 : 

Patricius roseis pavonum Ventilat alis. 
Parasols, umhellce, often occur. Mart. xiv. 28, TJmheUa : 

Accipe quse nimios vincant umbracula soles, 
Sit licet et ventus, te tua vela tegent. 
xi. 73 ; Juv. ix. 50. See Casaub. ad Suet. Oct. 80 ; Burmann, ad 
Anthol. Lat. ii. p. 370 j and Paciaudi, (TKiadocpopiifia s. de umhellte 
gestat. 

OBNAMENTS OF THE HAIB. 

The Boman ladies were very proud of fine long hair, and its 
ornaments. Appul. Met. ii. p. 118 : Quamvis auro, veste, gemjuis 
exornata m,rdier incedat, tarnen nisi capillum distinxerit, ornata non 
jjossit videri. Isid. xix. 23. Böttiger has spoken of the way in 
which they dyed the hair (with soap-like pomade, spuma Batava 
and caustica ; Cato in Cliaris. 1 : mulieres nostrce einer e capillum 
tingitabant, ut rutilus esset crinis. Val. Max. ii. 1, 5 ; Fest. p. 262 ; 
Serv. ad Virg. JEn. iv. 698) ; and also on the false hair, and blond 
wigs. Mart. v. 68, xii. 23 : Juv. vi. 120 : 

Sed nigrum flavo crinem abscondente galero. 
Ov. Art. Am. iii, 163 : 

Femina canitiem G-ermanis inficit herbis, 

Et melior vero quseritur arte color ; 
Femina procedit densissima crinibus emtis, 
Proque suis alios efiicit sere suos. 
The various methods of dressing the hair are seen in the ancient 
statues. Sometimes the marble perukes of these were replaced by 
others, to suit the fashion. See Ov. Art. Am. iii. 135 ; Appul, Met. 
ih. ; Tertull. de CuUu Fern. 6. The simplest method of wearing 
their hair was in smooth braids, and a knot (nodus) behind, in the 
modern fashion ; Mus. Borh. ix. 34 ; or the ends were brought 
round again in front of the head. The other extreme was the 



440 THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

tutulus, a storied edifice of hair over the forehead. Fest. p. 355 ; 
Varro, L. L. vii. 44 ; Mus. Borh. xiii. 25. To keep the hair in 
shape, bands were used, tcenia, fascia, fasciola, called capital. Varro, 
L. L. V. 130; but especially pins (actis discriminalis ; Isid. xix. 31) ; 
many of which are preserved, and such as are still used in parts of 
Italy to wind the hair round.] 

A similar pin, though it does not seem of particularly good 
workmanship, has been found in Pompeii, and a copy of it is given 
in the Mus. Borh. ii. tab. xiv. Bechi considers that it was designed 
to fasten the garments ; but Böttiger has, and as it appears rightly, 
explained the use of these pins as bodkins or crisping-pins. [Other 
costly head-dresses were used. Isid. xix. 31, Diadema est ornamen- 
timi capitis matronarinn ex auro et gemmis contextum. So also nim- 
bus, ih. ; Ov. Amor. iii. 13, 25 : 

Virginei crines auro gemmaque premnntnr. 
The hair was dressed by cinißones or cinerarii, with their curling- 
irons (calamisfrum, Varro, L. L. v. 129), combs, and pomades, and 
by the ornatrices. Macrob. ii. 5, p. 347. Julia mature habere cmpe- 
rat canos, quos legere secrete solebat. Subitus interventus patris op- 
pressit ornatrices. Orell. 2878, 2933. These persons were regularly 
apprenticed to the art j Marcian. Dig. xxxii. 1, 65.] Not only by 
night, but also for convenience by day, and especially when busied 
in household affiiirs, the women drew a net over the head, encircling 
the hair, reticulum [Varro. L. L. v. 130, quod capillum continerei. 
Non. xiv. 32; Isid. xix. 31], KtK^v hoXog. Juven, ii. 96, reprimands 
the men for indulging in this effeminate habit. These hair-nets 
were frequently made of gold thread, as we see from engravings in 
the Mus. Borh. iv. t. 49, viii. t. 4, 5, vi. t. 18. Plence in Juvenal, 
reticidum auratum. [They also used caps of thicker material, which 
hung down like a sack at the back of the head, mitra, calantica, or 
calvatica. Varro, ib. Non. xiv. 2 ; Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 23. Sometimes 
they were made of bladder, Mart. viii. 33, 19 ; and in various shapes. 
They occur in vase-paintings. See Becker's Charicles, translated 
by Metcalfe, p. 336. 

ORNAMENTS. 

These were very rich and manifold, generally of gold, set oiF 
with pearls and precious stones. Plin. //. N, ix. 15, 58 : Paulinam 
vidi smnragdis margaritisque opertam, alterno textu fulgentibus, toto 
capite, crinibus, spira, auribas, collo, rnonilibiis, digitisque, quce summa 
quadringenties H. S. colligebat. Lucian. de Domo, 7. The necklaces 
(?nonilia) and neck-chains (catellce), which often reached to the 



Scene VIII.] THE DKESS OF THE WOMEN". 441 

breast, were very magnificent. Isidor. xix. 13 ; Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 
2, 12; Sen. Med. iii. 572, auro textili monile fulgens. Pauli. Dig. 
xxxiv. 2, 32, Ornamentum mamillarum ex cylindris triginta quatuor 
et tympaniis margaritis triginta quatuor. The pearls were of im- 
mense value; Suet. Cces. 50, sexagies sesteHio margaritam mercatusest.^ 
A necklace was found at Pompeii consisting of one band of fine 
interlaced gold, on wMcb are suspended seventy-one pendants, 
like small ear-drops : at tbe ends of the chain there is a kind of 
clasp, on both parts of which there is a frog : at the terminal points 
where it was clasped there were rubies in settings, one of which is 
still in existence, and is copied in the Mus. Borb. ii. 14. [See also 
xii. 44. The arm-bands were called armillce (Paul. Diac. p. 25), 
hracliialia, spinther. Fest. p. 333 ; Plaut. Men. iii. 3, 4.] Arm-bands 
in the form of serpents appear to have been very common, and 
Hesychius says, opig to xiofcoüi' Tnpißpaxövwv. In Pompeii too, 
several of the kind have been found. See Mus. Horb, supra, and 
vii. tab. xlvi. xii. 44. The latter have actually rubies in the place 
of eyes. [Ladies wore in their ears a single great pearl, or other 
ornament. Isidor. xix. 31, Inaures ab aurium foraminibus nuncu- 
pates, quibus pretiosa genera lapidum dependuntur. Sen. de Ben. vii. 
9, video uniones no7i singula singulis auribus comparatos, Jam eni?n 
exe?'citatcB aures oneri ferendo sunt, junguntur inter se et insuper alii 
binis superponuntur. Nmi satis muliebris insania viros subjecerat, 
nisi bina ao terna patrimwiia auribus singulis pependissent. Plaut. 
Men. iii. 3, 17 ; Tlor. Sat. ii. 3, 239 ; Pauli. Big. xxxiv. 2, 32. The 
rings have already been discussed elsewhere. All these ornaments 
were called ornamenta mulieh'ia, Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 5. In contra- 
distinction to which is the mundus muliebris, quo midier mundior ßt, 
viz. specula (looking-glasses; see above, and Isid. xix. 31)matulcs, 
unguenta, vasa unguevitaria, and other articles belonging to the toilet, 
as combs (pectines, Varro, Z. L. v. 129), of box-wood or ivory ; in- 
struments for the nails (Böttiger, Sabina), and rouge-boxes. (They 
were rich in cosmetics. Lucian. Amor. 39 ; Plin. xxxiii. 12, 50 ; 
Cic. Orat. 23, fucati medicamen candoris et ruboris ; Ov. Med. Fac. 
73, Art. Am. iii. 197 ; Juv. vi. 477.) Ointments and oils have been 
discussed arbove. Some ladies spent great sums in these essences. 
Mart. iii. 55. 

Quod quacumque venis Cosmiim migrare putamus, 
Et fluere excusso cinnama fusa vitro. 

In Mus. Borb. xi. 16, there is a round ointment-box, with a pointed 
lid, just like a tobacco-box. The larger chests, with mirrors and 
other articles, called cistce mysticce, and which mostly came from 



442 THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

Prseneste, are described by Müller, Archaeologie V. Many toilet 
scenes in vase and fresco-painting, and on sarcopliagi, hav^e been 
preserved. 

APPENDIX. 

THE MATERIAL, COLOUB., METHOD OP MANUEACTURINa, AND OF 
CLEANING THE GARMENTS. 

The garments were manufactured of wool, silk, linen, and cotton. 
Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 23, lanea, linea, serica, homhycina. But the mate- 
rial most used was wool ; and the toga could not be made of any- 
thing else.] 

In Italy, the best was obtained in Apulia, round Tarentum. 
Plin. viii. 48 [Colum. vii. 2, 4] ; Mart. xiv. 155 : 

Velleribus primis Apulia, Parma secundis 
Nobilis ; Altinum tertia laudat ovis. 

Of the foreign sorts, the Milesian [Samian] and Laconian, as well 
as several others mentioned in Pliny, were celebrated. [Yates, 
Textrinum Antiquorum ; An Accoimt of the AH of Weaving among 
the Ancients. A lanarius negotians, importer of wool, is mentioned, 
Orell. Inscr. 4063.] The cloth was sometimes thick and heavy ; at 
others, thinner and lighter. On account of the first-mentioned qua- 
lity, the toga is called clensa, jnngids (Suet. At(g. 82) ; hi?^tn (Quinct. 
Inst. xii. 10). The latter must not be confounded with the pe.va, 
which signifies only the new garment, or one that was more woolly, 
and not so closely shorn ; whence sometimes the trita (see Obbar. 
on Ilor. D^jist. i. 1, 95), sometimes the rc?.sa, is opposed to it. The 
lighter sort served for summer- wear. Mart. ii. 85. According to 
Pliny (viii. 48, 74); it first came into use under Augustus. Silk 
stufis were not worn till late, and even then, sei'ica signifies generally 
only half- silk cloth, the wai-p being linen thread, and the woof of 
silk. When greater accuracy of expression is used, the distinction 
is made between suhserica and holoserica. [Isidor. xix. 22, holoserica 
tota serica — tramoserica sta?nine lineo, trama ex serico.'] Lamprid. 
Sev. Alex. 40. But what he says of ITeliogabalus (26), Primus 
Homanorum holoserica veste usus fertur, quunijam suhserica in vsu 
essent, this can only hold good of the men, for the holoserica stola 
mulierum is mentioned by Varro in Nonius. As such garments cost 
enormous sums, they were always considered an article of extrava- 
gance. We see from Quinct. xii. 10, that silken stuffs {suhserica) 
were used for the toga also. [At first, however, silk garments were 
worn only by women, Dio. Cass, xliii. 24 : men being in fact for- 
bidden to use them. Tac. Ann. ii. 33, ne vestis serica viros foedaret. 



Scene VIIL] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN". 443 

Vop. Tac. 10 ; Dio. Cass. lii. 15. But the law was often transgressed, 
e. g-, by Caligula, Suet. Cal. 52 ; and, later, it became obsolete. Solin. 
50.] On account of tbeir bigli price [Vop. Aurel. 45, one pound of 
silk cost a pound of 2:old], these stuiFs were woven so thin that the 
famous Coa (which were, however, also composed of byssus) were 
often censured by moralists. See Böttig. Sah. ii. 115, and Hein- 
dorf on Hor. Sat. i. 2, 161. The garment worn by Venus, in a paint- 
ing from Pompeii {Mus. Borh. iii. 36), and that worn by Phryne, 
as she is called (viii. 5), must be considered robes of this sort. In 
vii. 20, it is not much thicker ; and of them we may say with Horace, 
pcene videre est tit nudam. [Sen. de Ben. vii. 9, video sericas vestes, si 
vestes vocandcB sunt, in quihus nihil est, quo defendi aut corpus aut 
denique pudo)- 2yossit.~\ The silk dresses did not come to Europe in 
the web, but the raw silk had usually to be manufactured here. 
The chief passages on this point are Aristotle, H. A. v. 17. (19.) 
[Isid. xix. 27.] Plin. vi. 17, 20, Seres lanicio silvarum nobiles, per- 
fusam aqua depectentes frondium canitiem : wide geminus feminis 
nostris labor, reordiendi ßla rursumque texendi. The obscurity of 
the expression has induced many to believe that the robes already 
manufactured were taken to pieces, and then put together again. 
In Rome, at least in the time of Martial (xi. 27, 11), the most cele- 
brated weavers appear to have lived in the Vicus Tuscus. [Silk- 
merchants, sericarii negotiatores, occur in inscriptions. Orell. 1368, 
4252, The sericaria (2955) is a female slave, who probably had 
charge of the silk dresses of her mistress. On the origin of silk, 
and its manufacture and different names, see Becker's Charides, 
Eng. trans, p. 316, and Yates, Textrin. Antiq. i. 160 — 250. Though 
linen was indispensable in a household (Non. xiv. 5, mentions the 
linen covers, plagce ; xiv. 17, linteolum ccesicium ; and frequently the 
mcqii^ce and maidelia, or napkins. See the Excursus on the Table 
Utensils. Gausape also was originally of linen, though afterwards 
of wool), yet it was little used for dress. Hence it is seldom 
mentioned, except in speaking of the women (never in the case 
of the toga). Plin. H. N. xix. 1 ; whence we may infer that 
women sometimes wore linen garments. See Fest, and Paul. p. 310, 
who explain supparus as vestimentum puellare lineum. Non. xiv. 20 \ 
Appul. Met. ii. p. 117 ; Isid. xix. 25, mentions the amictdum as inere- 
tricium pallium lineum, and the anaboladium as amictorium lineum 
feminarum. 

It is not till later that linen garments for the men are met with, 
(for the legio linteata did not derive its name from its dress ; Paul. 
Diac. p. 115 ; Liv. x. 38 ; and there was a special cause for the 
priests of Isis wearing linen robes, linigera tw ha. Ovid. Art. Am. i. 



444 THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

77 ; Suet. Oct. 12,) when fine linen stuffs "became an article of special 
luxury. Lamprid. Sev. Alex. 40. The young slaves in attendance 
wore robes of this fine linen. Suet. Cal. lindeo succinctos; Sen. de 
Brev. Vit. 12 ; Heind. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 10. In later times, linen 
was valuable from its fine quality, and the ornaments worked into 
it. The finest came from Egypt and Spain (Carbasus, Plin. xix. 2 ; 
Non. xiv. 28 ; Lucan. iii. 239. 

Fluxa coloratis adstringunt carbasa gemmis. 
Virg. JEn. viii. 34.) Often, however, linum appears to mean cotton, 
bt/ssus, and vice versa ; as both stuffs were very similar, e. g. Isid. 
xix. 22, Sunt qui genus quoddam lini byssum existiment, 27, 25 ; Auson. 
JEph. Parecb. 2 ; linteam da sindonem j though, elsewhere, sindon 
denotes cotton stuffs. See Plin. xix. 1 ; Poll. vii. 76 ; Becker's Cha- 
ricles, Eng. trans, p. 316. The weavers of linen stuffs were called 
linteones. Plaut. Aul iii. 5, 38 ; Forcell. Thes. ; and the sellers of it 
lintearii. Orell. Inscr. 8, 4215 ; Ulp. Dig. xiv. 3, 5 ; comp. Cic. Ven\ 
v. 6. They also manufactured stuff's of wool and linen mixed, liiio- 
sterna. Isid. xix. 22. 

Here the question arises as to what were the colours of these 
stuffs. Originally, the customary colour was white, which con- 
tinued to be the only permitted one for the toga. The poor slaves 
and freedmen wore dark-coloured clothes, it is truej but this 
was for economy's sake, as they were less liable to soil. These 
dark stuffs, fusci colores, Mart. i. 97 ; xiv. 127 ; canusincB fuscce ; 
comp. 129 ; were, partly, dark naturally, (the wool of the Boetic 
sheep was dark-coloured ; Mart. i. 97 -, xiv. 133, me mea tinxit ovis ; 
Non. xvi. 13; Ulp. Dig. xxxii. 1, 70, naturaliter nigrum); partly 
dyed so {color anthracinus, Non. xvi. 14). From the former, the 
poor were called pullata turba. Quinct. vi. 4, 6, ii. 12, 10 ; Plin. 
Ep. vii. 17 ; Suet. Oct. 40, 44. But the higher classes also, when 
in mourning, or under prosecution, wore dark clothes (hence toga 
pidla, sordida). See the 'Excursus on The Biirial of the Dead. It 
was not till after the extinction of the old republican manners that 
men wore coloured garments, viz. lacernes and synthesis.'] The fac- 
tions of the Circus also influenced the choice of colour. 

Women, at least in the first century, frequently wore coloured 
robes ; and it seems doubtful whether this should be applied, with 
Böttiger {Sab. ii. 91, 109), only to girls and women of a lighter 
cast. [Sen. Nat. Qu. vii. 31, and Lucian, de Domo, 7, prove only 
that immodest women usually wore glaring colours. See Becker's 
Charicles, translated by Metcalfe, p. 320.] In the paintings from 
Herculaneum and Pompeii, even of the grandest subjects, we see a 
far less number of white than of coloured robes, as sky-blue and 



Scene VIIL] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. 445 

violet. See Zalin, Ornam. t. 19 ; Mus. Borh. iii. t. h, 6, and in the 
]joble figures, (vii. t. 34,) the tunica and palla are azure, coyered 
with golden stars. These are, it is true, not portraits of particular 
Boman matrons, but still they exhibit the taste of the period ; and 
in Petron. 67, Fortunata, the wife of Trimalchio, wears a tunica 
cerasina. Comp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 32, and 7 : pallce pwyurece. are often 
mentioned in the case of the first matrons. Many matrons may have 
retained the white garment, and on certain occasions coloured ones 
would probably not have been becoming, but this cannot be assumed 
to have been generally the case. [See Ov. Art. Am. iii. 169, 185 : 

Quot Bova terra parit flores, cum vere tepenti, 

Vitis agit gemmas pigraque cedit hyems, 
Lana tot aut plures succos bibit, elige certos.] 

These robes were made not only of one distinct colour, as pur- 
pure<B, coccinece, amethystincB, ianthincs, prasince, [or after names of 
flowers, as violet, mallow (molochinus) caltha, crocus (also luteus, 
Ov. Art. Am. iii. 179 ; Plin. xxi. 8), and hyacinth. Non. xvi. 12, 2, 
11 ; Isid. xix. ; or iron-coloured, ferrugineus, Non. xvi. 7 j Isid. ih. ; 
Plaut. Mil. iv. 4, 43 ; sea-coloured, cumatilis, Non, xvi. 1 ; greenish, 
galbinus, Juv. ii. 97 ; Mart. iii. 85, i. 97 ; Forcell. v. galhanum ,] 
but there were also, at least in the time of Pliny, coloured prints, 
so to speak, which appear to have been produced much in the same 
way as with us, and by means of a corrosive preparation laid on 
previously, the impressed partö were prevented from assuming the 
same colour as the rest of the piece, Pliny himself is full of 
admiration at the process. [The vestis impluviata, Plaut. Epid. ii. 
2, 40, was doubtless a figured robe. Non. xvi. 3 : color quasi 
fumato stillicidio impletus. But the vestis undulata, — Plin. H. N. viii. 
48, 74; Varro in Non. ii. 926, — was equivalent to ^watered ' with us 
(Changeant or Moire). (Becker's Charicles, Engl, transl. p, 321). 
Ovid, Art. Am. iii. 177 : 

Hie undas imitatur, habet quoque nomen ab undis ; 
Crediderim Nymphas hac quoque veste tegi.] 

Although this could not, of course, have been regular printing, 
yet these garments would seem to have been something like calicos 
they were at all events versicoloria. [These versicoloria were also 
made so by weaving and embroidery. Juv. ii. 97 : Cceridea indutus 
scutula ; where scutulce are the figures woven into or embroidered 
on the cloth. Isid. xix. 22 ; Lucan, x. 141 : 

Candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo, 
Quod Nilotis acus compressum pectins Serum 
Solvit et extenso laxavit stamina velo. 



446 THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus 11. 

Stripes or borders, woven in or sewn on the garments, were called 
paragaudcB. Cod. xi. 8, 2. The whole garment was also so named, 
Lyd. De Mag. ii. 13; Treb. Claud. 17; Vop. Aurel. 15, linecB'para- 
gaud(2, 46 ; Vop. Proh. 4. The gold-embroidered vestes plumatce 
have been already discussed. Comp. Stat. Theh. i. 262, aurata 
palla. Heyne ad Virg. Atn. i. 648. 

The purple robes, as a chief object of ancient luxury, have been 
thoroughly discussed by W. Schmidt, Forschungen auf dem Gebiet 
des Alterthums, pp. 96 — 212. The bright scarlet colour, coccu?n, 
from an insect resembling the cochineal (not a vegetable produc- 
tion ; see Plin. H. JV. ix. 41, xvi. 8, as Isidorus says, vennic7ilus ex 
silvestrihis frondibus), must not be confounded with purple, from 
•which it was carefully distinguished by the ancients. Suet. Nei\ 
33 ; Mart. v. 23 : 

Non nisi vel cocco laadida vel murice tincta 
Veste nit es. 

Quinct. xi. 1, 31 ; Ulp. Dig. xxxii. 1, 70 : Mart. xiv. 131.— Of the 
purples, {conchilium in a wider sense, and ostrum, Isid. xix. 28), 
we must take care to distinguish the juice of the regular purple 
snail {puiyura, jjelagia, also poe7iicum. Varro, L. L. v. 113, quod a 
Poenis primutn dicitur allata Tropqaipa) from that of the trumpet- 
snail (buccinum, murex, Ki]pvl) ; although purpura in a wider sense 
includes the second also, just as murex and buccinum, in a wider 
sense, often stands for purple. Plin. ix. 36, 61. These two con- 
cliylia are carefully distinguisned by Paul. v. trachali, p. 367, al- 
though in a mercantile point of view they are often confounded. 
Plin. ix. 36, 62 ; Non. xvi. 9 ; Mart. xiii. 87. The two ground 
colours of purple, red, and blackish, (Plin. ix. 36, 62,) were mixed so 
ingeniously, that thirteen different tints were obtained. In the 
proper purple, in its stricter sense, Schmidt distinguishes the pure 
from the diluted. The former was, in later times, called blatta, 
(Salmas. ad Vopisc. Aurel. 46 ; Sidon. Apoll. Carm. ii, 48 ; Lyd. 
De Mens. i. 19), and was divided into two sorts, the Tj^rian and 
amethystine, Plin. ix. 38, 62 ; Suet. Ner. 32 ; of which the Tyrian, 
which was the dearest, (the pound of wool costing one thousand 
denarii. Plin. ix. 38, 63), was twice dyed to give it the magnificent 
dark brilliancy, cißa^og and bis tinctus. Pliny. Mart. iv. 4, quod bis 
murice vellus inquinatum. Hor. Epod. 12, 21, iteratcB lanm. Comp. 
2, 16 ; Ov. Art. Am. iii. 170, qu(2 bis Tyrio murice lana rubes. Stat. 
Silv. iii. 2, 139 ; Lyd. De Mag. ii. 13 ; also murex bis cocttis, repetitus. 
The violet amethystine purple (also called ianthinum, violaceum, 
Mart. i. 97,) was second in value ; the pound of wool costing only 



Scene VJIL] THE DRESS OF THE WOMEN. 447 

one liundred denarii. Plin. ix. 38, 63. The diluted or pale purple, 
on the other hand (jus temperatur aqua), ^?ls, called conchylia : 
hence Plin. ix. 39, Conchyliata vestis. Suet. Cess. 43 : Cic. Fhil. 
ii. 27, coi^chyliata peristromata. Pliny (ih. andxxi. 8, 22) discusses 
the manifold mixtures and dilutions. The smell of the purple gar- 
ments, the lißa;a for instance, was far from agreeable ; Mart. i. 50, 
32, olidce vestes murice ; iv. 4, ix. 63. Wool and silk were the chief 
materials; they were always dyed raw, never in the web; cotton was 
never dyed purple, linen very seldom. Plin. H. N. xix. 1, 5. Dyers 
in purple, (the most renowned were those of Egypt and Phoenicia,) 
and dealers in it were called purpurarii, Orell. Inscr. 4271, 4250. 
It was spun and woven by common spinners and weavers. 

The use of purple in the toga of the magistrates, and tunica of 
the senators and knights, has been already mentioned. Such 
borders were also worn by private persons, but, at first, only of a 
common, spurious purple. Cic. p. Sest. 8. (Piso) vestitur aspere 
nostra hac purpura 2'>leheia ac pcene fiisca ; where fusca is wrongly 
explained as violacea by Ferratius ; whereas that belonged to the 
genuine purple hlatta. This fusca and pleheia corresponds to the 
fitXaiva of Cato, in Pint. Cat. Min. 6, which is the garb of a com- 
mon man, and not fit for a consul. Only magistrates might with 
propriety wear the ornament of Tyrian purple, and violaceinn. In 
other persons it was considered improper ; and hence Cselius was 
censured for wearing the genuine purples, Cic, ^. Ccel. 30. But as 
luxury increased apace, this distinction was no longer observed, and 
not only were borders worn of the best purple, but even whole 
garments of it. The women do not seem ever to have made any 
difference between the various purples. Val. Max. ii. 1, 5. But 
Csesar issued a prohibitive edict, Suet, Cces. 43, against conchxjliatce 
vestes, nisi certis personis et cetatihus perque certos dies ; which was 
repeated by Augustus. Dio. Cass. xlix. 16: Ti]v re IcrBiira rriv 

cWovpY?] iJ.riSsva d'Wov 'i'ioj Tu)i> ßovXeuroJv hvbvtadai. As aXovpyiQ is 

the same as holoverus, all purple, or genuine purple, Isid, xix, 22, we 
see that the use of the garments with a purple border was not for- 
bidden. Nero modified this interdict, forbidding only garments of 
the genuine purple {hlatta) ; Suet, JSfer. 32, Women also were liable 
to a severe penalty for infringing the rule, and merchants were 
forbidden to sell the article. But this distinction soon ceased 
again ; Lamprid, Sev. Alex. 40 ; Vop, Aurel, 46, ut hlatteas tunicas 
matronce haherent, 29. The purple toga and robe were now alone 
forbidden ; these being the exclusive insignia of the Emperor. 
Lactant. iv, 7 : indumentum purpurce insigne reyice dignitatis. The 
later interdicts only applied to the best sorts (hlatta), named murex 



448 THE DRESS OF THE WOMEK [Excursus II. 

sacer, or adorandus, which were produced by the imperial manu- 
factories ; the commoner sorts continued to be allowed, and were 
sold in the shops. Cod. xi. 8, 3 ; Cod. Theod. x. 21, 3, x. 20, 18,] 

As regards the manufacture of these garments, it is generally- 
supposed that they came almost ready from the loom, and therefore 
were without sutura. See Schneid. Ind. ad Scr. R. R. s. v. tela ; 
Beckmann, Beitr. iv. 39 ; Böttig. Furienem. 36, and Sah. ii. 106. 
This assumption, however, seems to require some restrictions. 
"With respect to the toga, it is contradicted by Quinctilian, and it 
seems even less possible in the case of the pcemda ; and if we look 
at a tunica, the upper part of which consists of two panni^ which 
must have been fastened together, before the breast and back could 
be covered, we shall not easily be persuaded that it could at once 
have been woven in that form. The mistake, perhaps, consists in 
taking what sometimes occurred for a general rule. The pieces 
might have been woven on purpose for each separate dress, and 
first become perfect garments under the hands of the vestiarii, ves- 
tißci, pmitdarii, whose names frequently occur in the lists of slaves. 
[Spinning and weaving were performed by female slaves, who, 
originally, did this in the atrium, under the eye and with the 
assistance of their mistress. See above. Later, the mistress seldom 
assisted, Colum. xii. prsef 9 ; when she did, it was thought worthy 
of special commendation. Orell, 4039, lanißca, pia^ pudica, 4860. 
Auson. Parent, ii. 3, xvi. 3. In the houses of the great there was 
a special room, textrtmmi, or textrina, where the female slaves 
worked, under the surveillance of the lanipendia, also lanipens serva 
and lanipmdus. Pompon, Dig. xxiv. 1, 31 ; Alfen. Dig. xxxii. 1, 61 ; 
Cai. XV. 1, 27. See the instructive passage in Sen. Ep. 90 : Dttm 
vult describere primum, quemadmodum alia torqueantur ßki, alia ex 
molli solutoqiie ducantur, deinde quemadmodum tela suspensis pon- 
deribus rectmn stamen extendat, quemadmodurn subtemen insertum, 
quod duritiain utrimque comprimentis tramce remolliat, spatha coire 
cogantur etjungi, textricum quoque artem a sapientihus dixi inventam, 
oblitus postea repertimi hoc subtilius genus, in quo 

Tela jugo juncta est, stamen secernit arundo. 
Inseritur medium radiis subtemen aciitis, 
Quod lato feriunt insecti pectine dentis, 

Juv. ix. 28; Isid. xix. 29; Yates, Textrin. Antiquorum.'] 

The Romans knew nothing about washing their clothes at their 
own houses, and the ladies were far better off than the king's 
daughter Nausicaa. The whole dress, when dirty, was handed over 
to the fullo, whose business consisted, besides getting up cloths 



Scene VIII.] THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. 449 

fresli from the loom, in attending to the scouring of those which 
had been worn, lavaj-e, interpolare ; hence they formed an important 
collegium, Fabretti, Jwscr. 278. [Orell. 4056, 3291, 4091.] Schoett- 
gen, Antiquitates Fullonice; Beckmann, Beitr. iv. 35. The remains 
of Büfullonia excavated at Pompeii, the walls of which are covered 
with paintings relating to the business of the fullones, are more 
instructive than all the passages in which they are mentioned. 
They are given in the Mus. Borh. iv. t. 49, 50, and partly in Grell's 
Fompeiana, ii. 51. 

In the lower part of one of these pictures we see in a line, in 
four niches, such as are to be found for a like purpose in the build- 
ing, three boys and an adult standing in tubs, for the purpose of 
purifying, by treading with their feet, alteiiiis pedihus, the clothes 
placed in them. As the ancients were not acquainted with the use 
of regular soap, they employed in place of the lixivium another 
alkali, with which the greasy dirt contained in the clothes com- 
bined, and by this means became dissolved. Of this kind was the 
nitrum, which was often used, and of which Pliny treats, xxxi. 10. 
But the cheapest means was urine, which was therefore, as is well 
known, chiefly used. The clothes were put in this mixed with 
water, and then stamped upon with the feet ; this process was per- 
formed by older persons, whilst boys lifted the clothes out of the 
tubs. Above these, in a second compartment, we see the next part 
of the process. On a pole, hanging on strings, a white tunica is 
stretched, and one of the fullones is manipulating it with a card or 
brush, very like a horse-brush, for the purpose of rubbing it up 
again, and giving it a nap. To the right, a second is bringing a 
round frame, with wide bars like a hen-coop, which hangs over him 
and through which his head is stuck, whilst in his left hand he 
carries a vessel with handles ; and there can be no doubt about the 
purpose for which this apparatus was designed. The white gar- 
ments after being washed, were vapoured with brimstone, and they 
were stretched on the frame whilst, exposed to the fumes of the 
sulphur beneath. Whether the sulphur was so evolved in the 
vessel which the workmen carried, or whether it contained water, 
with which the clothes were sprinkled before being subjected to the 
brimstone, we shall not attempt to determine. To the left sits an 
oldish well-dressed woman, who seems to be examining a piece of 
cloth, which a young workwoman has brought to her. The golden 
hair-net which she wears, the necklace and the armlets wdth two 
green stones, show that she is one of the more important personages 
in the fullonia. It is remarkable that the young man carrying the 

G G 



450 THE DEESS OF THE WOMEN. [Excursus II. 

frame wears an olive-garland, and above him on the frame sits an 
owl. This must relate to Minerva, 

On a second wall we see, in the lower part, a young man in a 
green tunica, giving a dress or piece of cloth to a woman wearing a 
green under-garment, and over it a yellow one with red serpentine 
stripes. To her right sits a second female figure in a white tunica, 
who appears to he cleaning a card^ or other similar instrument. 
Above them several pieces of cloth are suspended on two poles. 

Lastly, in the compartment above is a great press with two 
screws, to give the dresses the finishing touch. In this manner all 
the dresses were prepared, but the coloured ones had, of course, in 
many respects to undergo a different treatment, (comp. Pliny, xxxv. 
17) ; and thus they were returned to their possessors with a new 
gloss, A garment when once washed did not, of course, possess the 
same value. Hence the dispensator of Trimalchio, in Petron. 30, 
says : Vestimenta mea aceuhitoria perdidit, quce mihi natali meo cliens 
quidem donaverat, Tyria sine dubio sed jam se7nel luta : on which 
Burmann quotes Lamprid. Heliog. 26 : Linteamen latum, nunquam 
attigit, mendicus dicens qui linteis hits uterentur. So also Martial, x. 
11, lota terque quaterque toga, is considered a poor present. 



EXCURSUS I. SCENE IX. 



THE MEALS. 

rriHE contrast "between the simplicity of earlier times, and tlie 
-*- very refined luxury of a later period, appeared most strikingly 
perhaps at the table. The prodigality of its equipments were ulti- 
mately made not only with the view of indulging the palate by the 
choicest dainties, but also from a desire of obtaining the rarest 
articles, at whatever price. These were heaped up in dishes, with- 
out any regard to their being agreeable to the taste, but simply 
because they imparted an additional splendour to the banquet, on 
account of the immense sums they had cost. Besides which, the 
grand object of the Roman gourmands was not merely to eat 
daintily, but as much as possible ; and they sought to increase their 
capacity for so doing by the most unnatural means. The golden 
saying, II f auf ma77ger jjour vivre, et notipas viv)'e pour manger, was 
precisely inverted at Rome. As such importance was attached to 
everythiug relating to the table, there is naturally no lack of mate- 
rials for a description of the habits connected with it ; and several 
writers not only take pleasure in reverting frequently to the sub- 
ject, but have also left us detailed accounts of grand banquets. 
Stuckii, Antiquitates Convivales ; Ciacconius and Ursinus, De Tri- 
clinio; Bulengerus, De Conviviis ; are the most complete writings 
thereon ; but we shall pay little regard to them, as they are rather 
confused masses of collected passages, than lucid expositions, and 
also abound with errors. In addition to these, are Meierotto, lieber 
Sitten und Lehensart der Römer ; Wüstemann, Pal. des Scaurus ; 
but the best compilation is that of Professor Bahr, in Creuzer's 
Ahriss, 407. We shall here treat chiefly of the meals at diiferent 
times of the day, and make the arrangement of the triclinium, the 
discussion of the utensils, and wines, the subjects of particular 
articles. 

It is especially necessary to make a clear distinction between 
the later and the earlier periods, in which, according to the testi- 
monies of writers, the principal article of food was a gruel, puis, 
far, ador. Varro, de L. L. v. 22, De victu antiquissima puis ; Plin. 
xviii. 8, 19, -Pultenonpane vixisse longo tempore Romanos manifestum ; 
comp. Val. Max. ii. 5, 5. Juvenal (xiv. 170) also says : 

sed magnis fratribus horum 
A scrobe vel siilco redeuntibus altera coena 
Amplior et grandes fumabant pultibns ollse. 

G G 2 



452 THE MEALS. [Excursus T. 

And it appears also to liave been in a later period a common disli 
at the frugal "board. Mart. v. 78, 9, pultern niveam premens botellus, 
and the principal sustenance of the lower classes^ to which Mart, 
xiii. 8, alludes. 

Imbue plebeias Cliisinis pultibiis ollas. 
But it does not follow from this passage that the puis was the 
national food of Etruria (Ott. Müller, Etrusk. i, 234), and it was 
only called clusina, because the far clusinvm, which was the best 
and whitest grain, was especially used for this purpose. It is very 
probable, however, that this dish was commonly eaten through the 
greater part of Italy. [See Hauthal ad Pers. p. 183.] In addition 
to puis, green vegetables (olera), and legumes, (legumina), were fre- 
quently used, and flesh but sparingly. 

But sacrifices themselves, and the public banquets, coen^ popu- 
läres (Plaut, Trm. ii. 4, 69), by degrees led to the introduction of 
better meals, and the acquaintance with the habits of foreigners no 
doubt also exercised an influence. This became manifest chiefly 
after the wars in Asia, a.u.c. 563. In earlier times no private 
cooks were kept, there being no occupation for them. Plin. xviii. 
11, 28 : Nee coqtios vero Jiahebant in servitiis eosque ex macello con- 
ducehant. And such we find to be the case almost universally in 
Plautus. On the contrary, Livy, in the passage already often men- 
tioned (xxxix, 6), concerning the luxury which was introduced from 
Asia, says : epulce quoque ijjscs et cura et sumtu majore apparari cceptce : 
turn coquus, viUssimum antiquis mancipmrn et cestimatiwie et usu, in 
pretio esse, et quod 7ninisterium fuerat, ars haheri coejjta. Until the 
year 580, no private baker also was kept, nor did any follow the 
trade of bakers, Plin, supra: Pistores Pomes nonfuere ad Pei'siciim 
iisque bellum, amiis ah urhe condita super DLXXX. Ipsi panem 
faciehant Quirites, mulierumque id opus erat, sicut etiam nunc in 
plurimis gentium, [In the country, even at a later period, women 
and slaves had to do the baking. Ulp. Dig. xxxiii, 7, 12 ; comp. Sen, 
Ep. 90.] And a verse in Plautus, Aul. ii, 9, 4, where the artoptes is 
mentioned, might have been considered spurious, had not Ateius 
Capito informed us: coquos turn panern laiitioribus coqui solitos,pisto- 
resque taiitum eos, qui far pinsehant nominatos. Varro, De vit. pop. 
Pom. in Non. ii. 643. Nee pistoris nomen ei^at, nisi ejus qui rurifar 
pinsebat. But in Varro's time, skilful pistores fetched immense 
prices, as we see from the fragment of his satire Trepi loeaixaTOJv, in 
Gell, XV, 19, 

Notwithstanding all this, the art of cookery, and taste for deli- 
cacies, seem to have made considerable advances in Rome, as early 
as the time of Plautus, as we see from Aid. ii, 9; Capt. iv. 2; Mil. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 453 

iii. 1 ; Cure. ii. 3 ; 3Ien(echm. i. 1 ; Poen. i. 3. These passages were 
doubtless written in allusion to Roman habits, and the longing of 
the parasites would otherwise have been devoid of meaning. 

In considering a later period we must distinguish between the 
various meals which were taken at different times of the day, and 
thence the expressions, jentacuhim, prmidium, inerenda, coena, ves- 
perna, will require explanation. [Dio Cass. Ixv. 4, cucpaTiaacrOai — 
apiarfjaai — SeiTrvov — lAeradopTTia. Plut. Symp. viii. 6 ; Suet. Vit. 13, 
jentacula, prandia, coenos, cojmssationes.~\ 

Jentacuhim, also jmitaculum, was the name of the first meal, 
eaten early in the morning, [in ancient times silatum, quia jejuni 
vinum sili condiftim ante meridiem absorhehant.'^\ Isidor. Orig. :s.x. 2, 
10 : Jentacuhim est primus cihus, quo jejunium solvitur, wide et nun- 
cupatum Nigidius : Nos ipsi jejtmia jantacvlis levihus solvimus. The 
questions, at what hour this meal took place, what it consisted of, 
and whether it was generally adopted by persons of all ages, are 
difficult of answer, since the matter is seldom mentioned, and then 
in a chance manner. Salmas. ad Vopisc. Tacit. 11, 615, assumes 
the usual time to have been the third or fourth hour, but yet it is 
scarcely probable that any fixed time was general, it probably 
having been regulated according to each person's wants, and the 
hour at which he rose. Hence it was not always taken before 
going out of the house, but when they felt the want of it, and even 
in going along, as Saumaise has shown, and from him we may 
gather of what it consisted. Generally it was bread, seasoned with 
salt, or some other condiment, and eaten with dried grapes, olives, 
cheese, and so forth, Vopiscus says of Tacitus (c. 11) : Panem 
nisi siccmn nunquam comedit eundemque sale atque aliis rebus condi- 
tum, which is rightly referred by Saumaise to the jentacuhmi. So 
speaks Seneca too of his frugality (JEpist. 82) : Panis deinde siccus, 
et sine mensa prandium, post quod non sunt lavandce manus \ where 
panis is by no means to be understood of prandium. Others took 
milk and eggs besides, and mulsum. Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 30. This 
passage seems to show that the use of the jenfacidum was not con- 
fined to children and weakly persons, and there is no necessity to 
draw inferences for the Roman custom from Plutarch, Eustathius, 
and Didymus. The passages commonly quoted. Mart. xiv. 223, 
Jentacula : 

Surgite ; jam vendit p\ieris jentacula pistor, 
Cristatseque sonant undique lucis aves ; 

and Plaut. (^Truc. ii. 7, 46), hujiis pater pucri illic est ; usque ad 
jentaculum jussit ali, do not justify any such conclusion ; for in 
Martial, it is evident from the Jjemma, jentaculu77i, that a particular 



454 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

kind of pastry whicli served for the boys' breakfast, is meant. Still 
less proof lies in the words of Plautus; for alei^e ad jentaculum 
means, to bring up to that time when tbe child is no longer fed 
with puis, but can partake with others of the ordimm: j je^itacidum. 
On the other hand, Vitellius (Suet. 7) asks of the soldiers who 
meet him., Jamne Jentassent? and Martial says to Csecilianus, who 
came as early as the fifth hour to the prandium, (viii. 67) : 
Mane veni potius ; nam cur te quinta moretur ? 
Ut jentes, sero, Cseciliaue, yenis. 
Comp, also Appul. Met. i. 60. We may therefore assume that 
such a breakfast was generally adopted solvendo jejunio, though 
many might have omitted it in the same way as others abstained 
from the prandium. 

The prandium was not so much a breakfast as the proper mid- 
day meal, though it, too, was only looked upon as a preliminary 
repast, while the more bounteous ccena appeared in the back- 
ground; [The early meal of soldiers before the battle was so 
called, Isid. xx. 2; Liv. xxviii. 14.] There can be no doubt about 
the time at which it took place ; it was the sixth hour, whence in 
Martial (iv. 8), sexta quies lassis ; consequently about mid-day ; but 
this does not necessarily imply that it did not commence till the 
beginning of the seventh hour ,• for we read in Suet. Claud. 34 : 
Bestiariis mendianisque adeo delectabatu?', tit etiam prima luce ad 
spectaculum descenderet, et meridie, dimisso ad prandium populo, 
persederet. So that the expression meridie, is not to be taken so 
literally, and mid-day might doubtless arrive durin r the games. 
Many persons might, however, begin earlier, as Saturio (in Plaut. 
Fers. i. 3, 33) answers Toxilus : Nimis pcene mane est. Cicero says 
of Antony {Phil. ii. 41) : ah liora tertia hibehatur ; and people 
generally regulated the meal according to circumstances, as Horace 
on the journey {Sat. i. 5, 25), who would scarcely wait for the 
sixth hour. The saying of Pauli, p. 223 : prandiuyn ex Grceco 
TT pohoiov est dictum ; nam metndianum cibum eoenam vocabant, agrees 
very well with his account of the ccena. He meant to say here, 
that the name {prandium) was, at a later period, used for it (the 
mid-day meal), and that formerly the cibus meridianus was called 
coena. [So also Plut. Sijmpos. viii. 6, 5 ; Suet. Oct. 78, post cibum 
tneridianum ; Tac. Ann. xiv. 2, medio die.'] 

The less common term, merenda, appears to denote the same 
thing as prandium. Non. i. 118 ; Fest. Hic xi. 92 ; Isid. Oriff. 
XX. 2, 12. Merenda est cibus qui declinante die sumitur, quasi post 
meridie7n edenda et proxima coence. TJnde et anteccetiia a quibusdam 
vocantur. What time Isidorus meant is not so easily told, for 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 455 

between prandium and coena there is no place for merenda. But 
tlie promuhis "belonged to the ccena itself. [Perhaps he meant an 
evening meal^ "which might be taken bj way of exception.] In 
Calpurn. Sic. Ed. v. 60, we certainly have 

Verum ubi declivi jam nona tepescere sole 
iBcipiet, serseque videbitur hora merendee. 
Eursus pasce greges. 

But this is of sheep, and merenda denotes meal-time generally. 
But we gather that the word denotes the prandium, vdthout the 
explanations of the grammarians, from a letter of Marc. Aur. in 
Pronto, iv. 6 : Deinde ad merendam itum. Quid me censes pran- 
disse f Panis tantulum. Ah hora sexta domum redimus, where me- 
renda and prandium are used as synonymes, and the time is before 
mid-day. Further, in Plaut. Mod. iv. 3, 27, Theuropides says to 
Phaniscus : 

Vide, sis, ne forte ad merendam quopiam devorteris, 
Atque ibi mehuscule, quam satis fuerit, biberis. 

Simo had shortly before come from the prandium. As regards the 
etymology, Isidor, cites a second passage : Merum hinc et merenda, 
quod antiquitus id tempo?'is pueris operariis, quihus (?) panis merus 
dahatur, etc. How little value is to be attached to such attempts 
at guessing the derivation of a word, is at once apparent. 

We learn from Plautus {Mencechm. i. 3, 25) of what the pran- 
dium consisted. Phsedromus (Cwre. ii. 344) mentions: Pernam, 
abdomen, sumen, suis glandium. It consisted of warm as well as 
cold dishes ; frequently of the remains of the ccena of the previous 
day, reliquice. Cure, supra ; Pers. i. 3, 25. Caleßeri jussi reliquias ; 
and to which the parasite adds : Pernam quidem jus est apponi fri- 
gidam postridie. In later times they were not satisfied with these 
dishes, but olei-a, fish, eggs, &c., were added, and mulsum [Cic, p. 
Clu. joins prandere and mulsum,] mne, and especially the seduc- 
tive calda were drimk with it. Many frugal people took, however, 
a very simple prandium, as the elder Pliny. Plin. Epist iii. 5, 10. 
Seneca called this a prandium sine mensa post quod non sunt lavandce 
manus. 

The principal meal was the last in the day, ccena [currvov^ Plut. 
ih.'] ; but whether this applies to the most ancient times, may seem 
doubtful, according to Festus, Exc. iii. 41 : Ccena apud antiquos 
dicebatur, quod nunc est prandium ; vesper na, quatn nunc ccenam ap- 
pellamus, xvii. 149, and xix. 157. If the derivation given by Isid. 
Orig. XX. 11, 24, coena vocatur a communione vescentium ; Koiviv 
quippe GrcBci commune dicunt, be correct (and it is more probable 



456 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

tlian from Boivi]), this meal, whether later or earlier, must always 
be considered a principal one. If the name scensce be correct, it had 
not a Greek derivation at all. 

Apart, however, from this account, which refers to a period 
reaching far beyond all written memorials, the proper time of the 
coena was about halfway between mid-day and sun-set, i. e. the 
ninth hour ; but as this, in winter, began at half-past one, the time 
for business would have been too much broken in upon thereby, 
and the coena was then deferred till an horn' later, by which means 
it was brought to about the same time ; for in simimer the ninth 
began at 2 hrs. 31 min., and the tenth, in winter, 2 hrs. 13 min. 
Pliny (Epist iii. 1, 8) says of Spurinna : Uhi hora halinei nuntiata 
est — est autem hieme nana, cestate octava — in sole, si caret vento, ambu- 
lat nuclus. Lotus accuhat. The ninth is generally named as the 
hour of the coena. Cic. Fam. ix. 26 -, Martial in his division of the 
day, iv. 8, 6 : 

Imperat exstruetos frangere nona toros. 

Of course the time is only reckoned approximately, and no doubt, 
when busy, they dined later. Mart. vii. 51, 11. Many, on the 
contrary, began the meal earlier than the ninth hour, ccenare de 
die ; Mitsch. ad Hor. Od. i. 1, 19 ; Rupert, ad Juv. i. 49 ; when pro- 
tracted till late in the night, or till morning, they were said, ccenare 
in lucem. [Mart. i. 29, in lucem hihit'] Such convivia were called, 
in both cases, tempestiva. [Cic. p. Mur. 6, tempestivi coiivivii.'] 
Even with the more frugal people, the coena was of pretty long 
duration. Pliny (JEpist. iii. 5, 13) admiring his uncle's extraordinary 
parsirnonia temporis, says : Surgebat csstate a ccetia luce ; hieme intra 
primam noctis. This left about three hours for the meal, and yet 
even such instances were rare. As business was quite over, and all 
the rest of the day belonged to recreation, there was no necessity 
for curtailing the meal. 

The coena consisted of three parts : 1. Gustzis {gustatio), or pro- 
mulsis ; 2. fercida, different courses ; 3. mens(B secundce. The gustus, 
says Petronius (21, 31), contained dishes designed more to excite 
than to satisfy hunger ; all sorts of vegetables to help digestion, as 
lactuca, Mart. xiii. 14 : 

Claudere qxise ccenas lactuca solebat avorum, 
Die mihi, cur nostras inchoat ilia dapes ? 

See Heindorf, on Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 59. Also, shell and other fish, 
easy of digestion, with piquant sauces, and so forth. The sup- 
position that the meal began with eggs, whence Acron, on Hor. Sat. 
i. 36, explains the proverb, ab avo ad tnala, agrees very well with 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 457 

Cic. Fam. ix. 20, Integram fmnem ad ovum affei'O; who means that 
his hunger lasts from, the heginning to the end. In Petron. 33, the 
ova pavonina also belong to the gustatio ; and Mart. xii. 19, says : 

In thermis sumit lactucas, ova, lacertum. 
This was a gustus, which many took immediately after bathing. 
Appul. Met. ix. p. 656. [Plin. Ep. i. 15 : Paratce erant lactucce 
singulce, cochlece ternce, ova hina. Varro, R. R. i. 2.] 

They also generally took mulsum (see the Excursus on Tlie 
Drinks), as wine was thought too heating for the empty stomach. 
Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 24 : 

Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno, 
Mendose, quoniam vacuis committere venis 
Nil nisi lene decet ; leni prsecordia mulso 
Prolueris melius. 

The gustus was called promulsis ; but not because the viands were 
taken before the mulsum, but because they, with it, formed the 
whet. In the same sense Martial says, irpoTzivav, instead of gustare. 

The coena, in a stricter sense, consisted of several removes ; fer- 
cula, [also called missus], named prima, altera, tertia coma, followed. 
Mart. xi. 31. In earlier times people were satisfied with two re- 
moves, (Cato, in Serv. on Virg. ^n. i. 637) ; afterwards there were 
generally three, the chief dish, caput ccence (Mart. x. 31), being 
placed in the centre ; but they did not stop there ; and Juvenal's 
words (i. 94) are well known : Quis fercula septem secreto coenavit 
avus ? [Suet. Oct. 74 : Ccenam ternis ferculis aut quum ahundantis- 
stme senis prcebebat.'] There was never a lack of the dessert, mensce 
secundcB, which consisted of pastry, heUaria (Gell. xiii. II), fresh 
and dried fruit, [Lamprid. Alex. Sev. 37], and of dishes made only 
to be looked at, and called by the Grecian name epideipnides. 
Mart. xi. 31 ; Petron. 69, [or impomenta ; Paul. p. 108, quasi im- 
ponimenta, quce post comam mensis imponebant.'] 

By the expression ccena recta, is meant a full meal of this sort, 
ab ovo usque ad mala, hut it is obscure, and opposed to the sportida. 
[See above, and Suet. Oct. 74; Vesp. 19.] Other expressions, as 
dubia, pu7'a, belong only to particular cases. [Before entering 
into a brief survey of the chief dishes,] we will give some pas- 
sages on the subject. Firstly, a simple meal is described, in Mart. 

x. 48: 

Exoneraturas ventrem mihi villica malvas 

Attulit et varias, quas habet hortus, opes, 
In quibus est lactuca sedens et sectile porrum : 

Nee deest ructatrix mentha, nee herba salax. 
Secta coronabunt rutatos ova lacertos, ! 

Et madidum thynni de sale sumen erit. 



458 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

Gustus in his. Una ponetur ccenula mensa, 

Hcedus inhnmani raptns ab ore lupi, 
Et qtise non egeant ferro structoris ofellee, 

Et faba fabrorum, prototomique rudes. 
Pullus ad hsec coenisque tribus jam perna superstes 

Addetur ; satnris mitia poma dabo. 

And one still more simple in v. 78 : 

Non deerunt tibi, si voles irpoiriveiu, 

Viles CappadocEe gravesque porri. 
Divisis cybium latebit ovis. 

Ponetur digitis tenendus unctis 
Nigra eauliculus virens patella, 

Algentem modo qui reliquit liortum, 
Et pultem niveam premens botellus, 

Et pallens faba cum rubente lardo. 
Mensse munera si voles secundae, 

Marcentes tibi porrigentur uvse. 

The fii'st three lines contain the gustus ; potiere is said of the fer- 
culum. Comp. xi. 52. [Lucian, Lexiph. 6.] An account of a 
grand coena pontißcalis, about the middle of the period of the 
Eepublic, will be found in Macrobius, ii. 9 : Ccena Jicbc fuit : Ante 
ccenam ecliinos, ostreas crudas, quantum vellent, peloridas, sphondilos, 
turdum, asparagos. Suhtus gallinam altilem, patinam ostrearum, 
pelondum, balanos nigros, halanos albos ; iterum sphondilos, glyco- 
maridas, utricas, ßcedulas, lumhos caprugineos, aprugnos, altilia ex 
farina involuta, ßcedtdas, miances et purpuras. In coena sumina, 
sinciput aprugnum, patinam piscium, patinam suminis, anates, quer- 
cedidas elixas, lepores, altilia assa, amylum, panes Picentes. The 
guests amounted to fifteen or sixteen persons in all. 

Much about the usual dishes is to be found in Heindorf 's notes 
on Horace, and Wiistemann's Pal. d. Scaur. [Nonne, de re cibaria.'] 
We shall here follow Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Macrobius, and 
Pliny, [Plautus likewise mentions several dishes], without referrino- 
to the receipt-book of Apicius, [or to the unnatural gormandizing 
of a later age, {po7ienta luxuries. Sen. Up. 110, luxus mensce. Tacit. 
Ann. iii. 55), when innumerable delicacies were procured from 
distant lands at an enormous cost j a state of debauchery which 
was but little curtailed by the numerous sumptuary laws. Comp. 
Sen. Cons, ad Alb. 10. ep. 78,95, 114; Cms. ad lieh. 9 ; Suet. Vit. 
13 ; Lamprid. Heliog. 19, 23 ; Eutrop. vii. 18 ; Dio Cass. Ixv. 3 ; 
Colum. prcef. de hört, cultu ; Pacati, Paneg. Theod. 14. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 459 

PISH 

■were a chief object of Roman epicurism, thongli seyeral sorts also 
served as the poor man's staple of subsistence ; e, g.] Lacertus, & 
very common and not particularly esteemed sea fish^ which on this 
account is often introduced in mentioning a simple meal, as Juven, 
xiv. 134; Mart. vii. 78. It was eaten with eggs, chopped small, 
and rue, which were placed either round or upon it, (Mart. x. 
48, 11). 

Seeta coronabunt rutatos ova lacertos, 

as the cyhium, salted slices of a fish of the pelamides species, (Mart. 
V. 78, 5), also a cheap dish, whence they are mentioned together. 
Mart. xi. 27. 

[The mcena or mma, Cic, de Fin. ii. 28, was little valued ; as 
also the sepiola and lepas. Plaut. Cas. ii. 8, 57. At Venice the little 
ffobius was a favouiite dish. Mart. xii. 88, Col. viii. 17. Of the 
mugilis we know little. Plin. ix. 17, 26. Col. viii. 16 ; Mart. x. 30. 
Sergius was called after the aurata, or orata (Goldbrasse), from his 
fondness for this fish. Macrob. ii. 11 ; Col. viii. 16 ; Varro, R. R. iii. 
3 ; Plin. ix. 16, 25. But see Festus, v. orata, p. 182. Those from 
the Lucrine lake were the best. Mart. xiii. 90.] The mullus [sea- 
barbel, hence called harhatus, Cic. ad Att. ii. 1 ; Farad, v. 2] was 
one of the most favourite and expensive fishes, and increased in 
value according to its size, and to an almost incredible amount, one 
of six pounds having been sold for eight thousand sesterces. See 
Heind. on Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 33 ; [Juv. iv. 15, v. 92 ; Mart. x. 37, 31 : 
Sen. Ep. 95; Macrob. Sat. ii. 12.] The smaller ones were not 
much esteemed. Mart. xiv. 97 : 

Grandia ne viola parvo chrysendeta mullo ; 
Ut minimum, libras debet habere duas. 

[See Plin. ix. 17, 18.] The rhombus, turbot, a most favourite fish 
with the Romans, especially when large, was procured best from 
Ravenna. Plin. xix. 54, 79 ; Heindorf on Hor. Sat. i. 2, 116. ii. 8, 
30 ; [Mart. xiii. 81, iii. 60. The passer, floimder, much resembled 
it. Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 29; Plin. ix. 20, 36 ; Col. viii. 16. The murceiia 
was a kind of sea-eel, Heind. on Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 42. The best came 
from the coast of Sicily, and Tartessus. Macrob. Sat. ii. 11; Juv. 
V. 99 ; Col. viii. 16 ; Mart. xiii. 80 ; Gell. vii. 16; Plin. ix. 54. The 
conger and anguilla were of the same species. Piin. ix. 20, 37 ; 
Plaut. Mil. iii. 1, 165. The asellus, supposed to be the haddock, 
was celebrated, (Varro, L. L. v. 77; Petron. 24: Fost asellum 
diaria non su7no, i. e. " after delicacies I will not eat common food.' " 
The best came from Pessinus, Gell. vii. 16), and the luptiSj sea-wolf. 



460 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

Plin. ix, 17, 28 ; Mart. xiii. 89. Those caiiglit between two bridges 
in the Tiber were esteemed most, Heind. on Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 31 : 

Unde datum sentis, lupus hie Tiberinus an alto 
Captus hiet ? poutesne inter jactatus an amnis 
Ostia sub Tusci : [i.e. the Tiber.] 

But generally, the river-lupus was considered bad eating. Colum. 
viii. 16 ) Macrob. ii. 12 ; Mart. xiii. 17, 22. The scarus, which is 
unknown to us, was highly prized ; scaro datus principaUis, Heind. 
ad Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 22 ; Epod. 2, 50 j Macrob. ii. 12 ; Col. viii. 16. 
Pliny relates that the emperor Claudius brought it from the coast 
of Asia Minor to the sea between Ostia and Campania. Gell. vii. 16. 
Its entrails were a chief delicacy. Mart. xiii. 84 : 

Visceribus bonus est, cetera vile sapit. 
The acipenser (or elo^^s, perhaps our sturgeon, Col. viii. 16), best 
from Rhodes, Gell. vii. 16 : Varro, R. R. ii. 6, was in ancient times 
thought a great ornament to the banquet ; (Plin. ix. 17, 27 : Apiid 
antiquos piscium nohilissimus ;) but afterwards fell much in repute 
and value. Heind. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 46 : 
Haud ita pridem 
Gralloui praeconis erat acipensere mensa 
Infamis : quid ? tum rhombos minus sequora alebant ? 

See Schol, Cruq. ib. on the prceco Gallonius, who first siue mensce 
opposuit this fish. Lucilius censured this luxury, Cic. de Fin. ii. 8; 
p. Quinct. 30 ; Tusc. iii. 18 ; Macrob. ii. 12 ; Mart, xiii. 91. Pauli, 
says that its name was properly aquipeyuer. Salmasius {Exercit. 
Plin. p. 941) derives^it from acus and pesna or perna. Ath. vii. 
p. 294. The rich Romans had at their villas magnificent 2'>iscince or 
vivaria piscium, stews, filled with fresh or salt-water fish, Plin. 
H. N. ix. 54, 79 ; Mart. x. 30 : 

Piscina rhombum pascit et lupos vernas, 

Natat ad magistrum delicata mursena. 

Nomeneulator mugilem citat notum, 

Et adesse jussi prodeunt senes mulli. 

Shell-fish were also a delicacy, Cels. ii. 29, cochlece, ostrea, pelorides, 
echini, muscidiet omnes fere conchulm. Varro, L. L. v. 77; Sen. Ep. 
95 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 30 : 

Lubrica naseentes implent conchylia lunse, 
Sed non omne mare est generosse fertile testae. 
Murice Baiano melior Lucrina peloris, 
Ostrea Circeiis, Miseno oriuntur echini ; 
Pectinibus patulis jactat se moUe Tarentum. 

Heind. ad he. The miirex was an edible purple muscle, Mart. xiii. 
87, best from Baise. Macrob. supra. Peloris, (gienmuschel,) Ath. iii. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 461 

p. 90, Fatua, Mart. x. 37, best from tlie Lucrine lake. Mart. vi. 
11. Echinus, sea-urcliin, Mart. xiii. 86 : 

Iste licet digitos testudine pungat acuta, 
Cortice deposito mollis echinus erit. 
Plin. ix. .31, 51. Pectm, cockle, Ath. ill. 88 ,• Plin. ix. 32, 51, 
xxxii. 53 ,' Gell. vii. 16. Sphondilus and halanus, see Macrob. supra. 
The oysters and snails are of much more importance. The former 
was an article of great luxury, {palma mensarum divitum, Plin. 
xxxii. 6, 21.) Those from Circeii were the best. Plin. his neque 
duldora neque teneriora esse ulla compertimi est. The next best were 
the Lucrine ; at least they were thought so by Sergius Orata, no 
mean connoisseur in these matters ; who was the first to form ostre- 
arum vivaria at Bai«. Plin. ix. 54, 79 ; Hor. Epod. ii. 49 ; Mart, 
xiii. 82, Ostrea : 

Ebria Baiano veni modo concha Lucrino. 
As luxury increased, they were obtained from Brundusium, Ta- 
rentum, and even from Cyzicum and Britain ; and then fattened 
in beds in the Lucrine lake ; Plin. ix. 54, 79 ; xxxii. 6, 21 ; Gell. 

vii. 16 ; Juv. iv. 140 : 

Circeis nata forent an 
Lucrinum ad saxum Eutupinove edita fundo 
Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu. 
In Macrob. ii. 9, an express distinction is made between ostt^ecscrudce, 
which were handed to the guests, quantum vellent, and patina ostre- 
arum, which was a warm dish prepared from oysters ; for patina 
does not signify the dish only in which the meats were served, but 
a covered bowl, in which they were cooked, (Plautus, idti o?nnes 
patincB fervent, omnes aperio), as well as placed upon the table. 
[A particular sort of bread was eaten to oysters, panis ostrearius ; 
Plin. xviii. 11, 27. 

Snails, cochlece, Plin. ix. 32, 51, were fed in ponds for the pur- 
pose. Plin. ix. 56, 82 : Cochlearum vivaria instituit Fidvius Hir- 
pinus in Tarquiniensi, paulo ante civile heUum, distinctis quidem 
generihus earum, separatim ut essent alhce, quce in Reatino agro nas- 
cuntur, separatiin Illyricce, qnibifs magnitudo prcecipua, Africance, 
quibus fcecunditas, Solitance quihus nohilitas. Varro, R. R. iii. 14, 
discusses the rearing of them at length.] 

The garum was a sauce made from the entrails and blood of 
certain fishes, and probably was to the ancients what caviare is to 
us. See Heind. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 46, \_garo de succis piscis Iberi, 
viz. the scomber, Plin. xxxi. 7, 43. On the scomber, see ix. 15, 19 -, 
Mart. iii. 50 ; Strab. iii. 4 ; Mart. xiii. 102, Garum sociorum : 
Exspirantis adhuc scombri de sanguine pi^imo 
Accipe fastosum munera cara garum.] 



I 



462 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

There were good and "bad qualities of it, and hence we find it 
at one time called a delicious expensive food, at another, worthless 
and common. The Silenus, from whose skin it is here made to 
drop, is not to be found in the passage of Petronius, although in 
c. 36, he has something similar : Circa angulos repositorii notavimus 
Marsyas quatuor, ex quorum utriculis garuni iTiperatuTn currehat 
super pisces, qui in euripo natabant. The garum was used in various 
ways, both in the kitchen and at the table, and oysters even were 
smeared with it. Mart. xiii. 82. 

Similar to it was alec or alex, Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 73. Ileindorf, 
after Plin. xxxi, 8, 44, explains it to be a sort of garum not yet 
refined. Köhler thinks it was a combination of all sorts of deli- 
cacies, as oysters, the liver of the mullus, and other shell-fish. The 
muria was a sauce of a like nature. Heind. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 65 : 

Quod pingiii miscere mero miiriaqiie decebit 
Non alia quam qua Byzantia putuit orca. 

The best muria was made from Byzantine thunnies (thynni). 
Plin. ix. 15, 20 -, Mart. xiii. 103, Muria : 

Antipolitani, fateor, sum filia thynni ; 
Essem si scombri, non tibi missa forem. 

Pliny, xxvi. 4, 11, mentions muria made from other fish. Muria, 
(dura eruda, mafura) was also the name for brine. Col. xii. 6, 25, 
30 ; Cato, H. R. 105. 

POULTRY. 

The peacocks and fowls have been already discussed. See fur- 
ther, Lamprid. Sev. Alex. 37 ; Mart. xiii. 62, Gallina altilis : 

Pascitur et dulci facilis gallina farina, 
Pascitur et tenebris, ingeniosa gula est. 

Ih. 63, 64. On the capo, see Varro, iii. 9, who also mentions the 
fattening of chickens in the dark. Sen. Ep. 122. The altilia ex 
farina involuta, in Macrob. denote a chicken-pie. On the pheasants 
see above, and Mart. xiii. 72. Pigeons, above, and Mart. xiii. 66, 
67. Tuj'tur, Plin. x. 34, 52. On the duck, see Macrob. above. 
Mart. xiii. 52 : 

Tota quidem ponatur anas, sed pectore tantum 
Et cerviee sapit : cetera redde coco.] 

Jecur anseris was a very favourite dish, and to make its taste 
finer, the geese were fed with figs and dates. See Eader on Mart, 
xiii. 56. [Hor. Sat. ii. 8. 88 j Juv. v. 114 ; Plin. x. 22, 27. White 
geese were considered best. Varro, R. R. iii. 10 ; Hor. supra. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 463 

Partridges and heatli-cocks, perdiv and attagen. Mart. xiii. 65, 
Perdix : 

Ponitnr Ausoniis avis lisec rarissima mensis — 
Hanc in lautorum mandere ssepe soles. 
76 and 61 : 

Inter sapores fertur alitum primus 
lonicarum gustus attagenarum. 
Plin. X. 48, 68 ; GeU. tu. 16.] 

The field-fare, turdus, was considered a great luxury, and was 
not only eaten when in season, but also fed all the year round in 
ormtJiones for the purpose. Even in Varro's time they were sold 
when fattened for three denarii (about sixteen pence) a piece, and 
one villa yielded in a year 5000 head, consequently a revenue of 
60,000 IIS. (iii. 2, 15). Columella says (viii. 10), nunc ceteris nostrce 
luxuries quotidiana fecit h<EC pretia. [A circle of roast turdi were 
placed round the dish. Mart. xiii. 51, turdorum corona. 92, Lepus : 
Inter aves turdus, si quis me judice certet, 
Inter quadrupedes mattea prima lepus. 
Hor. Sat. i. 5, 72, ii. 5, 10 ; Pers. vi. 24. Blackbirds, merul<s, were 
also eaten. Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 91. Snipes, ßdeculoe. Mart. xiii. 49 ; 
Gell, XV. 8 ; Macrob. supra : sometimes the crane, gru8, and stork, 
ciconia. Plin. x. 23, 30 : C. Kepos cu7n scriberet turdos paido ante 
co£p>tos saginari, addidit, ciconias magis j9?ace7*e quam gi'ues. Hor. 
Sat. ii. 8, 87 : 

Membra gruis spars! sale multo non sine farre. 
ii. 2, 49 ; Gell. vii. 16, gimes Melicce.'] 

There is no proof that the Phcenicopterus, which is explained to 
be the flamingo, and named in the modern system Phcenicopterus 
antiquorum, was in the time of Gallus one of the delicacies at the 
tables of the great, but it was introduced soon after, for Vitellius 
and Apicius had dishes made of the tongues of these birds. Suet. 
Vitell. 13 : Plin. x. 48, 68. Martial names them among the turha 
coHis, iii. 58, 14 : 

Argutus anser, gemmeique pavones, 
Nomenque debet quae rubentibus pennis. 

Comp. xiii. 71. [Juv. xi. 139 ; Sen. Ep. 110.] Elagabalus had 
dishes prepared of the brains of these birds. Lamprid. c. 20. 

[Sometimes, though rarely, they committed the absurdity of 
eating singing-birds. Plin. x. 51, 72 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 245. Among 
the 

QUADRUPEDS 

the greatest favourite was the tame or wild boar.] It was gene- 
rally the chief dish of a grand cö?««, and came whole to table ; [a 



464 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

custom introduced by P. Servilius RuUus. Plin. viii. 51, 78 ; Juv. 
i. 140 : 

Quanta est gula, quae sibi totos 
Ponitapros, animal propter convivia natum. 

V. 115. Tiberius bad only half a one. Suet. Tib. 34]. 

The practised gourmand pretended to distinguish by the taste 
from what part of Italy it came. Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 40^ says : Umber 
curvet ajjer lances ; nam Laurens malus est ; at other times the Lu- 
canian, and later^ the Tuscan, was celebrated. See Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 
234; 8,6; Stat. >Se7y. iv. 6, 10 ; Mart. vii. 27. [Catull. 39, 11. The 
Laurentine were frequent. Mart. ix. 49, x. 45 ; Ovid. Fast. ii. 231 ; 
Yirg. JEn. x. 708.] The rich Romans kept them in vivaria. Plin. 
viii, 51, 78.] The cooking of the boar also cost a considerable 
sum. Martial, who had received a present of a Tusccs glandis aper 
says, 

Sed coqiius ingentem piperis consumet acervum, 

Addet et arcane mista Falerna garo ; 
Ad dominum redeas ; noster te non capit ignis, 

Conturbator aper. Vilius esurio. 

On the carving, see Petr. 40. [The flesh of the tame swine was 
cooked in manifold ways. Plin. viii. 51, 77. On the manner of 
dishing it up, see above. The sucking-pig was also thus served. 
Mart. xiii. 41, Po7'ceUus lactens.'] 

Among the most favourite dishes of the ancients were the womb, 
vulva, and the breast, sumen, of a porca, before it had been sucked ; 
hence there is no dish so 'frequently mentioned from Plautus down- 
wards. [Gierig, on Plin. Ep. i. 15 -, Mart. ii. 30, xiii. 44, 56 ; Plin. 
xi. 37, 83. They also liked the head, sinciput verrinum, the liver, 
the stomach, ahdomen, Plin. viii. 51, 77, and the hams, pernce, espe- 
cially those of Spain and Gaul. Mart. xiii. 54; Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 60.] 
These were often kept and eaten a second day, Plaut. Mil. iii. 1, 
164. Mart. x. 48, 17, trihus ccenisjampcfrna super stes. [Plaut. Pseud. 
i. 2, 33 ; Capit. iv. 3 ; Curcid. ii. 3, 87 ; MencscJwi. i. 3, 27 ; Varro, 
L. Z. V. 109.] 

Sausages were a favourite dish and used by all classes of society, 
and the fortunate rival of Cleon, in the Knights of Aristophanes, 
has lent no small renown to the trade in them. The Roman names 
for them are hotidus and tomacidum, but these signify different 
things, as we gather from Petron. 49. They were prepared as 
among us, with the blood of the animal, as we learn from Aristoph, 
Eq. 208, and the hotuli were of this description, as TertulL Apol. 9, 
says : hotulos cruore distentos admovetis. Tomacida, on the contrary, 
were brain, liver, and other sausages, and were eaten warm, being 



ScE^E IX.] THE MEALS. 465 

roasted on tlie gridiron. Petr. 31 ; Mart. xiv. 221. Hence they 
were carried about in small tin ovens for sale. Mart. i. 42^ 9, 

. . . fumantia qui tomacla raiicus 
Circiimfert tepidis coquus popinis. 

wliere tep. pop. means focos tepidos. So the hotularius also cried out 
his wares. Sen. JEpist. 56. In Varro, R. R. ii. 4, 10, tomacince are 
probably the same as to^nacula. As we import hams from West- 
' phalia, and brain-sausages from Brunswick, so the Romans obtained 
both best from Gaul. Comp. Ruperti ad Juven. x. 355. [The 
smoked sausages were called hillce. Schol. Cruq. ad Hor, Sat. ii. 4, 
60, explains /ar^wm saltitium. Varro, L. L. v. 111. He mentions 
several sorts o^ farcimina, e. g. Lucana (Mart. xiii. 85) , fundolum, 
etc. Non. ii. 410. 

Of meats for roasting, the hare, lepus, was much esteemed.] 
Petron., leporem in medio pennis suhornatujn, ut Pegasus videretur. 
[The epicure's bit was the shoulder-blade. Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 44 : 
Fecundse leporis sapiens sectabitur armos, 

8, 89. Comp. Mart. xiii. 92 ; Lamprid. Sev. Alex. 37.] On the 
method of fattening them, see Macrob. Sat. ii. 9. and Plin. viii. 
55. The little goat, hoedus, Mart. x. 48, was obtained best from 
Ambracia. Gell. vii. 16 ; Juv. xi. 65 : they also ate the roe, Hor. 
Sat. ii. 4, 43 ; the rabbit, cunicidus, Mart. xiii. 60 ; and even dor" 
mice, glires (although this was restricted by a Censor's edict, Plin. 
xxxvi. 1), Mart. xiii. 59. 

Tota mihi dormitur hiems, et pinguior illo 
Tempore sum quo me nil nisi somnus alit. 

They were fattened with chestnuts. Plin. viii. 57, 82 ; Varro, 
R. R. iii. 15. J ■ 

VEGETABLES . 

The lactuca [Varro, L. L. v. 104] was one of the most general 
vegetables, about the use of which at meals, see above. For its 
varieties, see , Billerbeck, Flora Class. Here the capitata, headed- 
lettuce, comes especially under our consideration, also called laconi- 
ca (Plin. xix. 8, 38), and sessilis (Mart. iii. 47, 8), and also sedens, 
Mart. X. 48, 9. Five sorts of this are mentioned by Colum. x. 
181, and xi. 3, 26 : two named cceciliana, after Csecilius Metellus, 
the one green, the other brownish red, the yellowish green, cappa- 
doca, (Mart. v. 78, 4), tlie whitish, bcetica, and the cypria, also red 
outside. 

Brassica, (oleracea), green or brown cabbage, was likewise a 
very favourite vegetable. Plin. xix. 8, 41. [Varro, L. L, v. 104.] 

H H 



466 THE MEALS. [Excursus I. 

Botk the larger stalks, cauUs, cauliculus, and the young spring 
shoots, cymata, cymee, were eaten. Col. x. 127, seqq. The stalks 
were served up whole. Mart. v. 78, 5. In order that in boiling 
it might retain its green colour, saltpetre was mixed with it. Mart. 

xiii. 17 : 

Ne tibi pallentes moveant fastidia catües, 
Nitrata viridis brassiea fiat aqua. 

Plin. xxxi. 10. 46. Columella enumerates several sorts; Pliny 
mentions above others, the Cuman, Arician, and Pompeian. [Com- 
mon cabbage, olus, was the frequent food of the poor. Hor. Epist. 
i. 17; 13 ; i. 5, 2, and Obbar. ad loc. ; Sat. ii. 1, 74 ; 7, 30, secunim 
olus. — Turnips, likewise, Mart. xiii. 16, rapa, 20 ; napi were very 
common ; also asparagus, 21, asparagi, Varro, L. L. v. 104 ; Non. 
xviii. 1. Mushrooms, /MW(/^, were a very favourite dish, particularly 
the holeti. Juv. v. 146 ; Hor. Sat ii. 4, 20 ; Mart. xii. 48, xiii. 48 ; 
Plin. Epist. i. 7. The emperor Claudius was very fond of them. 
Mart. i. 21. Truffles were called tuhera. Plin. xix. 2, 11 ; Mart, 
xiii. 50 ; hulhi, Mart. xii. 34.] 

The eruca, hrassica enica, garden-rocket, served not only as a 
spice, but was also eaten like lettuce. Spreng. Hist. R. Herb. i. p. 
97. It was well known as veneris concitatnx. Plin. xix. 8, 44, xx. 
13 49 ; Virg. Moret. 85 ; and is hence often called hei'ha salax. 
Mart. X. 48, 10, iii. 75. 

Porrum, poree, a favourite dish of two kinds, j^orrmn sectile 
(Schnittlauch), and capitatum ; hence utrumque porrum. Mart. iii. 
47 8. The capitatum (graves porii, ibid. v. 78, 4) of very good 
quality, came to Pome from Aricia, Colum. x. 139 ; mater Aricia 
porri, Mart. xiii. 19 ; as the sectile from Tarentum, ibid. 18. 
Horace's condemnation of it {Epod. iii.) is well known. 

Cicer fervcms, or tepidum, boiled chick-peas, a very usual and 
cheap aliment, was hawked about for sale. Mart. i. 42, 5, otiosce 
vendit qui madidum cicer cormim. A dish of them could be obtained 
for an as (about three half-pence). Mart. ii. 104. 10. Hence it is 
especially the food of the poorest class, and always a mark of a 
very frugal table. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 115, [ii. 3. 182] ; Mart. v. 78, 21. 
rSo also beans. Mart. x. 48; v. 78 (Itipini), and lentiles were a dish 
of the poor. Heind. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 63 ; Mart. xiii. 7, Conchis 
faba ; lastly, barley, groats, jwlenta, Col. vi. 17 ; Sen. Ep. 18, 22 ; 
Plin. xviii. 7, 18, alica ; Plin. xviii. 1 1, 29 : xxii. 25, 61 ; Mart. xiii. 6. 

Of the various fruits notice has been already taken. 

Further may be added] Syrian dates, caryotcc, [Mart. xiii. 27,] 
and Egyptian, Thebaicce. Salmasius treats of them at length, 
Exerc. ad Sol. ii. 927 ; [Plin. xv. 28, 34.] The dates in Petron. 
are said to be an allusion to the sustenance of the boar, glandes. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 467 

Olives belonged botli to tlie gustus and to the menscB secundce. 
Mart. xiii. 36 : 

Inclioat atque eadem fiuit oliva dapes. 

On tlie albcB and nigrce and their conditura, see Colum. xii. 48. On 
other sorts, Billerbeck, Flor. Class, p. 6. [Plin. Ej). i. 15^ olivce 
BceticcB. 

Lastly come certain articles, used in cookery, per quce esse 
solemus. Ülp. Dig. xxxiii. 9. 3.] e. g. honey. 

The best was the Attic (Hymettian), and the Sicilian from the 
floriferous Hybla. Mart. xiii. 104, 105. Third in rank was that 
from Calydna, an island on the coast of Caria. Plin. xi. 13. On 
the other hand, the worst (asjjerrimiwi, Plin. xxx. 4. 10) came 
from Corsica. Therefore Ovid says of the letter (cerd) of his love^ 
who refuses the rendezvous he entreats for, Amor. i. 12, 9 : 
Quam, puto, de longse collectam flore cieiitee 
Melle sub infami Corsica misit apis ; 

and Martial replies to Caecilianus, who had requested epigrams of 
him upon absurd subjects, xi. 42 : 

Mella jubes Hyblaea tibi, vel Hymettia nasci, 
Et thyma Cecropise Corsica ponis api ? 

Comp. ix. 27. [Here also must be mentioned the various condi- 
ments, condimenta, kitchen-herbs and spices, piper, macis, laser, 
ligustiann, allium, coriandrum, careiim, portulaca, lapathium, beta. 
Pauli. Big. xxxiii. 9, 5 ; Plaut. Pseud, iii. 2, 21 ; Non. xvii. ; Mart, 
xiii. 5, 13 ; Plin. xix. 4, 7, 8. Also cheese, (caseus, a coacto lacte^ 
Varro, L. L. v. 108 ; Plin. xxviii. 9, xi. 42 ; Mart., xiii. 30—33 ; 
where the Lunensis (a very large sort), Vestinus, Velabrensis, Tre- 
hulanus, are mentioned. The best came from Gaul and Bithynia. 

PASTEY A^D BREAD. 

The loaves were very flat, about two inches thick, of a square 
shape, (hence called quadra ; Mart. ix. 91 ; Hor. Ep. i. 17, 49 : Juv. 
V. 2,) with six or eight notches cut in them ; as is seen from 
paintings, and loaves, that have been discovered. The best bread 
was of wheat-flour, siligineus. Sen. ^/j. 123, 119 ; Plin. xviii. 9, 20, 
e siligine lautissimus panis^ ii. 27 : Vop. Aurel. 48. It was called 
tener, niveus, candidus, mimdus. The commonest (jjanis sordidtis 
durus. Sen. Ep. 18, plebeius ; Sen. 119, cibarius. Cic. Tusc. v. 34; 
Isid. XX. 2,) was of barley, pollards, ihordaceus, furfurosus,fur- 
furibus conspersus, acerosus. Plin. xviii. 11, 26). Between these 
there was a middling quality, jyanis secundtis, or secimdarius, besides 
several others. Plin. xix. 9. 20 -, Suet. Oct. 76 ; Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 123. 

H B 2 



468 THE MEALS. [Exccrsus I. 

There was the panis speusticus, furnaceus, artop)ticius, suhcinericius, 
clihanitius, ruhidus, &c., names which refer to the method of 
making- the bread. Isid. ih. ; Plin. ih. -, Lampr. Sev. Alex. 37 ; 
Juv. V. 67. It is doubtful whether pa/^es Ficentes are biscuits or 
rolls. Mart, xiii. 47 : 

Picentina Ceres niveo sic nectare crescit, 
Ut levis accepta spongia turget aqua. 

Small round rolls, or liba, were called pastilli. Plin. xviii. 11, 26 ; 
Fest. p. 250 ; scent-balls, however, are likewise so called. Hor. 
Sat. i. 2, 27, Pastillos Rußllus olet. Mart. i. 88. Cakes and pastry 
were made in all shapes and sizes.] First come the porcelU, Petron. 
40, which were distributed amongst the guests to be taken away 
by them (apophoretd) ; they were make of copta, or copto-pilacenta, 
a kind of pastry, not unlike the rye-bread of Westphalia: it was 
very hard, and was often sent away to a distance. Hence Martial's 
joke, xiv. 68, copta Rhoclia : 

Peccantis famuli pugno ne percute denies ; 
Clara Rhodos coptam quam tibi misit, edat. 

See Petron. 60 : Priapus a pistore f actus c/remio satis amplo omnis 
generis poma et uvas sustinehat more vulgato. Such plastic displays 
of pastry were not perhaps confined to Trimalchio's house. Mart, 
xiv. 69. Athena3us, xiv. details the numerous names of such 
pastry. Hase merely gives a few general remarks on the subject. 
The pastry was filled within with all sorts of ingredients. Petr. 
69 : Epidipnis adlata turdis siligineis uvis passis nucihusque f arsis. 
\0n laganum and artolaganus, see Hor. Sat. i. 6, 115, and Cic. ad 
Fam,, ix. 20.] The making of these opera pistoria was the business 
both of the didciarius and the lactarius. 

[the attendants 

who waited at the table of the rich Romans, and cooked the meals, 
were very numerous. Of the coquus mention has already been 
made, Juv. ix. 109, archimagirus.'] 

Fistor was the name both of the slave who baked the bread for 
the usual household supply, and of him who made dulcia, cakes and 
pastry of all kinds : the latter was also called didciarius^ because 
the two functions were not always discharged by the same person. 
Hence Appul. Met. x. says pistor didciarius, qui panes et mellita 
concinnahat edulia, where panes is not to be taken for common 
bread. Mart. xiv. 222 : 

Mille tibi dulces operum manus ista figuras 
Exstruit ; hiiic uni parca laborat apis. 



Scene IX.] THE MEALS. 469 

Tlie lactarius purveyed the regular pastry, in wliicli meal and 
milk were the chief ingredients. Lamprid. Heliog. 27. The lacta- 
rius copied figures as well as the dulciarkis, and the Friapi siK- 
ginei were of his making, ibid. 32. In most cases the same 
person discharged both offices, and the name pistor was the general 
term. 

[The white bread baker was called pistor siliginarius, or candi- 
darius. Orell. 4263, 1810. The technical process of baking is seen 
on the bas-reliefs on the tomb of the baker M. Yergilius Eurjsaces. 
The obsmator was the person who catered for the kitchen. Sen. 
JEp. 47,' Mart. xiv. 212.] 

It does not seem warrantable to assume the presence of a special 
fay-tor in a family for the purpose of making pasties, sausages, and 
so forth : the fartor appears to have been no more than the ai-evTi^g, 
who fattened the poultiy. In Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 229, there is no ground 
for supposing a hotularius to be meant, as the fartores were not 
confined to the viUas in the country, but many followed the occu- 
pation in Eome. When Donat. on Ter. Hun. ii. 2, 25, 
. . . cupediarii omnes, 
Cetarii, lanii, coqui, fartores, piscatores. 
explains the word, qui farcimina faciunt, it might bear that signi- 
fication, but the poulterer would be much more befitting in the 
company mentioned; and even in Plaut. True. i. 2, 11, it is not 
necessary to suppose it to mean äXkavroirMkriq. 

[The person in charge of the triclinium was the tricliniarcha, 
Orell. 794, 2952, or architriclinus, Sen. Ep. 47 ; Petr. 22, with his 
assistants, the servi tricliniares, also named lectisterniator. Plaut. 
Pseud, i. 2, 29. As regards the table itself, the struetores were 
important functionaries.] 

The word struetor has several significations, as he had several 
duties. The word denotes in the first place, that he was the 
person who arranged the food, set the different dishes of sepa- 
rate fercula, in order upon the repositoria, and took care that the 
dishes were served in a pleasing and ingenious manner. See Petron. 
35. In the next place, by struetor is understood the scissor, also 
carptor, [and dirihitor, Appul. Met. p. 123,] he who carved the food. 
His art consisted not only in carving in a skilful manner, but also 
in dancing, and keeping regular time in his movements. See 
Rupert, on Juv. v. 120. 

He was also the person who constructed artificial figures, of 
fruit and flesh, for the dessert, as, for instance, the cydonia mala 
spinis con/ixa, ut echinos efficereiit, and again, the omnium genera 
avium, pisces, anser altilis (Petron. C9), which were all made de tino 



470 THE MEALS. [Excurstts I. 

coi'iiore, de porco. See Mart. xi. 31, who says of CeeciliuSj tlie 
Atreus cucurbitamtn, or melon and gourd- chopper : 
Hinc pistor fatuas facit placentas, 
Hinc et multiplices struit tabellas, 
Et notas caryotidas theatris. 
And .this seems to be his office in the passage of Lamprid. 
{Helioff. 27) mentioned above. In most cases the latter was the 
duty of the cook, and the former of the scissor. 

It is uncertain whether the taking off the sandals, and handing 
the water for washing, were done by the guests' own slaves, or by 
the domestic slaves of the host. In Petron. 31, the slaves of Tri- 
malchio certainly performed similar services for his guests. The 
custom of each guest having his own slave, whom he had brought 
with him, standing behind him, is corroborated by examples. Pe- 
tron. 58 and 68; by which it appears that Habinnas brought several 
slaves with him. Mart. ii. 37; Anthol. Pal xi. 207. [On the use 
of the nomendator, see above. For the purpose of serving the wine 
there were i^ocillatoi-es, and a cyatho, later, prcegustatores. Suet. 
Claud. 44; Orell. 2993. On the attendance in general, see the de- 
scriptions in Juv. xi. 145, and v. 66 : 

Maxima quseqxie domus servis est plena superbis, 
and Sen. Ep. 47 and 95 : Transeo pistorum üirbam, transeo minis- 
tratorujn, jjer quos sicpio dato ad inferendam cocnam discurritur. Dii 
honiy quantum hominum unus venter exercet. Appul. Met. ii. p. 123.] 
The recitations, ÜKpodixa-a, usual during the coena and comissatio, 
and the applauding cry of, aotpwc (Mart. iii. 44, 50,) raised in com- 
pliment to the reciter; [Mart. v. 78 ; Juv. xi. 177 ; Plin. Up. vi. 31 ; 
Sidon. Apoll, i. 2 ; Plut. Zuc. 40;] the music of the Symphoniacij 
[Macrob. ii. 4; Petr. 31;] the displays of the dancers, [Macrob. 
Sat. ii. 10 ; comp. Cic. p. Mur. 6 ;] mimes, rope-dancers and 
jugglers: the scurrce and moriones with their jokes, [Ilor. Sat. i. 
5, 52], must have sadly interfered with the conversation of the 
guests. Hence Martial says, ix. 78 : 

Quod optimum sit quseritis convivium ? 
In quod choraules non venit. 
Pliny, however {Ep. ix. 17) numbers ihelector, lyristes and comoeduSj 
among the becoming pleasures of the table, and worthy of a refined 
taste ; but the many took no interest in such things, and preferred 
low ribaldry, Corn. Att. 14. [Suet. Oct. 74 : triviales ex circo ludios 
interponehat ac frequentius aretalogos, i. e, scurras. Liv. xxxix. 6 : 
Tunc psaltricB samhudstriceque et convivalia ludionum ohlectamenta 
addita epidis. See August, de Civ. Dei, iii. 21 ; Stuck, Antiq. 
Conviv. iii. 20; Ciaccon. de Tricl. p. 75.] 



EXCUESUS IL SCENE IX. 



THE TEICLINIUM. 

THERE do not seem to have been any special eating-rooms, or 
triclinia, in the old Eoman house, hut large apartments for 
general use answered the purpose ; in the city, the atrium, and in 
the country, the cors. Varro, in Serv. ad Virgil yEn. i. 637, in 
atrio epulahantur antiqui. Yarro {Tie Vit. Fop. Horn.) is not so 
clear ; but at the period with the manners of which we are better 
acquainted, the houses had more than one triclinium, and also large 
halls {cßci^ for the same purpose ; for an account of which, see the 
Excursus on The Roman House. 

The word triclinium did not originally signify the room itself, 
but the couch on which they took their seats at the table. {BicU- 
nium, Plaut. Bacch. iv. 4, 69, 102, refers to the particular case when 
two paria amantum were together, and for two or three persons of 
course only one lectus was required). These couches were not 
known in the earlier ages, in which they used to eat sitting, a 
custom to which the women [and children] adhered after the men 
had adopted that of lying. Isid. Oriff. xx. 11,9. We find this 
exemplified in many monuments. Auffust 151 ,• Pitt. d'Trcol. i. 14; 
Zahn, Ornament. 90. [The children sat ad fulcra lectorum. Taci- 
tus {Ann. xiii, 16) mentions a special table for them. Mos hahe- 
hatur principium liberos cum ceteris idem cetatis nobilihus sedentes 
vesci in aspectu propinquorum propria et parciore me7isa.'\ 

The word signifies not the single lectus tricliniaris, but a con- 
junction of three such, with three persons on each, so that the tri- 
clinium comprehended nine persons. On the fourth side, an access 
to the table was left for the placing of the dishes. Wüstemann 
understands by it a single lectus, and supposes the whole company 
sat upon three lecti ; but this is untenable, as Macrob. {Sat. ii. 9, 
Triclinia lectis ehurneis strata fuerunt: duobus tricliniis pontifices 
cubuerunt, — in tertio triclinio Popilia), can only be understood as 
referring ,to different triclinia, consisting of several lecti; it was in 
order that more than one table with its couches might stand in the 
same room, that the regular eating apartments were twice as long- 
as they were broad, and they had oecos quadratos tam ampla macjni- 
tudine, uti faciliter in eis tricliniis quatuor stratis, ministrationum 
ludorumque operis locus possit esse spatiosus. Vitr. vi. 10. It may 
be difficult to say how the nine men distributed themselves among 



472 THE TEICLIXIÜM. [Excursus II. 

two triclinia^ but for fifteen persons, and among them four vestal 
virginS; to liave sat at one triclinium, would have been an unheard- 
of circumstance. The number, too, was not complete ; for in the 
list, Lentulus, in honour of whom the banquet was given, and 
Metellus, were absent ; so that there would at have been at least 
eleven or twelve persons. 

The three lecti, forming the triclinium, differed much in point of 
rank, as did also the particular places on each. They were called 
summus, medius, and imus, but the medius alone explains itself. 
Salmas. ad Solin. p. 886. The manner of arrangement can be ex- 
plained in two ways ; first, from Seneca {Nat. Qucest. v. 16), where 
in giving the points of the wind he says, A septmtn'onali latere stim- 
mus est Aquilo,.medius septentrio, i7nus TJiracias; but in the wind- 
dial of Varro, which Seneca followed, the Aquilo takes the place to 
the left, and the Thracias that to the right of the septentrio ; and it 
is therefore clear that the lectus summus stood to the left of the 
medius, and the imus to the right of it. On the second proof more 
hereafter. Of these couches, the most honourable was the medius, 
then the summus, and the imus the last in rank. 

The lectus had a railing along at one end, where lay a cushion ; 
the rest of the places were separated by pillows. On this railing 
the person rested with his left arm, so that the imus would have 
had the railing next to the medius, whilst that of the summus would 
have been at the extreme end opposite. The most honourable 
place was that next to the railing, then the centre, and lastly the 
lowest one ; hence snperius and inferius accumhere. But to this 
rule the medius was an exception; for on that, the lowest place 
was first in rank, and also the seat of honour of the whole tricli- 
nium, and always left for the most important person ; hence called 
considaris. The chief passage on the subject is in Plutarch {Sym- 
pos. i.3), but it seems to contain a contradiction which has escaped 
the notice of commentators. After quoting the customs of other 
nations with regard to the rank of the seats, he says, "Pw/ia/orc ^e 
o Trjij nhf7r]Q K\ii'r]Q rf/XfyraTor, ov vnariKuv Trporrayopevovaiv, and ad- 
duces three reasons why this should have been the place of honour. 
Firstly, he thinks that the kings formerly took the middle place on 
the middle lectus, and that, on the transition into a republic, the 
consuls ceded this place, with a view of obtaining popularity. Ac- 
cording to his second reason, the lowest place on the middle lectus 
was the moat honourable (Heindorf erroneously says the summus), 
and next to the lectus imus, on which the host took the uppermost 
seat, in order to be as near as possible to the most distinguished 
guest. The third ground given was, that the consul or general 



Scene IX.] 



THE TKICLINIUM. 



473 



could m tliat place best settle any matters of business, if, for in- 
stance, intelligence or papers requiring bis signature bappened to 
be brought to bini. Plutarcb's meaning is apparent. The three 



3 






3 


%■ 


y 




1 1 ^ 


.3 





Medius. 



lecti were so placed, that their inner lines formed three sides of a 
square, but where the summus and imus joined the medius, an 
angle occurred outside, which could however be rounded, if the 
lecti were made sloping. If the consul lay on the lowermost seat of 
the lectus medius, the messenger waiting for orders could put him- 
self in this corner. There was, it is true, at the end another such 
corner, but the person lying there must have looked backwards in 
order to converse with any one occupying it. The difficulty con- 
sists only in Plutarch designating the place Iv <^ T))g I'ieuTipag KXivrjg 
T7J Trpo)T7j auraTTTOvatjg, t] yiovia haXfijjina Troiovaa. By cevrtpa is tO 
be understood medius, but this abuts at the point where the locus 
consularis is, not on the summus, but on the imus, where the host 
lies next to the consularis. The words therefore contain an im- 
possibility, and contradict what Plutarch himself had previously 
said ; so that we must make the necessary alteration of Ttjg hvnpaQ 

icXivrjg Ty Tpiry avvaTrrovfrrjc. 

Were a proof still wanting that the lectus imus was at the right 
of the medius, it would be deducible from the position of the 
places of the host and consul, which adjoined each other ; the 
former being summus in imo, the latter imus in medio. This arrange- 
ment is made clear by the fragment of Sallust, Hist. i. 3, in Serv. 
ad Virg. ^n. 698 : Igitur discuhuere. Sertorius inferior in medio ; 
super eum L. Fahius *** ; in summo Ajitonius et infra scriba Sertoi^ii, 
et alter scriha, Mcecenas, in imo inter Tarquitium et domimim Perper- 



474 THE TRICLINIUM. [Excursus II. 

nam ; where mention is made of the banquet at which Sertorius 
was killed by the treachery of Perperna. Only two persons lay on 
the lectus medius and the summus ; as, when the number of the 
company was not complete, the smaller number was always allotted 
to those couches, they being the appropriate seats for guests. Ser- 
torius naturally took the most distinguished seat ; he lay inferior in 
medio, not imus, because there was only one other person on the 
same lectus. Next to him on the right lay Perperna, as host, on 
the imus. The outermost place on the summus was occupied by 
Antonius. It is quite as easy to assign each guest his place at the 
ccetia Nasidieni. Hor. Sat. ii. 8. The only deviation here was, that 
the host had resigned his place to Nomentanus, who in some degree 
did the honours for him 5 and, for the same reason, he himself lay 
medius in imo. At other times, the mistress of the house and the 
children occupied the imus, or places were left on it for uninvited 
visitors (unibrce), introduced by invited guests. 

When the use of round-tables became common, the proper tri- 
clinia no longer answered, and were changed for semicircular sofas, 
called sigma from their form. The round-tables (the costly orhes 
citrei) were of no very great size, and hence the sigmata, or stihadia, 
were arranged for less than nine persons. Such was the hexacUnon 
in Mart. ii. 60, 9, and the heptaclinon, x. 48 : 

Stella, Nepos, Cani, Cerealis, Flaece, venitis ? 
Septem sigma capit ; sex sumus : adde Lupum. 

also one for eight persons, xiv. 87, Stibadia : 

Accipe lunata scriptum testudine sigma. 
Octo capit, veniat, quisquis amicus erit. 

[Heliogabalus placed this number on a sofa, Lamprid. Hel. 29.] 
On such a sigma, the order of places ran straight on, beginning 
where, in the triclinium, the locus summus in summo was. [In the 
frescos in a tavern at Pompeii there are such semicircular lecti 
with round tables. In a vault there is a picture of a long narrow 
sickle-shaped table with lectus, and eleven persons assembled at a 
funeral meal.] 

The lecti trichniares were low; all the tables that have been dis- 
covered are considerably lower than ours. This may be accounted 
for by the fact that a tall tray was frequently placed upon them. 
See Bechi, Mtts. Borh. iii. xxx. They were probably of the same 
kind as the cuhicidares : i. e. they had girths and mattresses, over 
which the gorgeous coverlet, generally purple, was spread ; but in 
them was more opportunity of display, and hence not only cerati^ 



Scene IX.] THE TRICLINIUM. 475 

but argenteij aurati, etc., are also mentioned. Respecting tlie 
stragula and tor alia, see the following Excursus. 

In the middle of the triclinium, or sigma, stood the table on 
which the meats were served \jponere opposed to tollere] ; but it is 
interesting to learn from Martial, that even then the custom of 
slaves handing the dishes round had been introduced, vii. 48 : 

Cum mensas habeat fere ducentas, 
Pro mensis habet Annius ministros. 
Transcurrunt gabatse volantque lances. 
Has vobis epulas habete, lauti : 
Nos offendimur ambulante ccena. 

The bread was always handed round. Petron. 35 : Circumferehat 
jEgyptius puer clihano argenteo panem. The clihamis was probably- 
one of the absurdities of the house. 

The usual expressions to denote taking the place at the table, 
are, when alluding to the whole company, discumbere ; when of one 
in particular, c?ec'wm5ere, or more generally, accwmSere ; where mensce, 
or something else must be supplied : accuhare ought properly to 
apply to a person already reclining, but it is also interchanged with 
accumbere, as Plin. Ep, i. 3, 8 : Lotus accubat. Mecubare, cubare, 
iacere, are, if used, to be taken as more general expressions, having 
no particular reference to the table. 



EXCUESUS TIL SCENE IX. 



THE TABLE UTENSILS. 

AS the triclinium, witli tlie company reclining, presented a very 
different appearance from our tables, surrounded by chairs, so 
the equipment of the table very little resembled ours. Table-cloths 
do not appear to have been introduced till very late, the best proof 
of which is, that the language had no word to express them. 3Ian- 
tele, mantelibus sternere, inantelia mittere^ which were used for this 
purpose, had originally a totally different signification. Lamprid. 
Reliog. 27 ; lb. Alex. Sev. 37 ; Isid. Orig. xix. 26, 6. Originally 
mantehy or mantelium, was equivalent to x^^pofiaicrpov. [Fest. p. 133, 
frequens enim mitiquis ad mamcs tergendas usus fuit manteloriim.^ 
Varro, L. L. vi. 8, Mmitelium, ubi manus tergentur. At the period, 
then, treated of by the Scriptores histories Augustes, the habit pre- 
vailed ; and as early as the time of Hadrian, too, if what Lamprid. 
says be correct : Qumn h(sc Heliogahalus Jam recepisset, et ante, id 
quidam prcedicant, Adrianus habuisset. Even Mart. (xiv. 138,) 
Gausapa villosa sive mantele : 

Nobiliiis villosa tegant tibi lintea citrum : 
Orbibus in nostris circulus esse potest. 

may be referred to this, although it must not necessarily be under- 
stood of the coena ; the same applies to xii. 29. But this custom 
did not prevail at the time of Augustus, as we learn from Hor. 
Sat. ii. 8, 10, 

His ubi sublatis puer alte cinctus acernam 
Gausape purpureo meusam pertersit, etc. 

Had the table been covered, it would neither have been perceived 
that it was of maple, nor could it have been rubbed with gausape, 
which operation appears to have been generally performed between 
the divisions of the meal. See Petron. (34), and to this Plautus 
(Mencechm. i. 1), 

Juventus nomen fecit Peniculo mihi, 
Ideo, quia mensam, quando edo, detergeo. 
also alludes. At that period, then, the mantele at table was merely 
a napkin, the same as mappa, a linen cloth usually fastened over 
the breast. At least this may be inferred from Petron. (32), and 
Pliny, vii. 2. [Varro, Z. L. ix. 47.] 

We are not acquainted with any passage that states whether 



Scene IX.] THE TABLE UTENSILS. 477 

tliese mapp<2 were handed to eacli guest by tlie master of the house, 
except perhaps the rather indistinct one of Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 81 : 
Vilibus in scopis, in niappis, in scobe quantus 
Consistit sumtns ? neglectis flagitium ingens. 
But by comparing it with the verses following, it almost seems as if 
mappa had some further signification j and that as scopes and lutu- 
lenta palma mean the same thing, so also do mappce and toralia. 
[Horace certainly made the same difference here between mappa 
and toraly as in Ep. i. 5, 21 : 

Hsec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non 
Invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa 
Corruget nares, ne non et cantharus et lanx, etc. 
The host therefore provided the mapp£e.] On the other hand, it is 
clear beyond doubt that each guest brought his own mappa with 
him. Martial's epigram in ridicule of Hermogenes, who on every 
opportunity stole the mappa, is well known (xii. 29) : 
Attnlerat mappam nemo, dum fiirta timentur ; 
Mantele e meusa sm-puit Hermogenes, 
Just so of Csecilianus, who stowed away all the meats (ii. 37, 7), and 
in a similar case (vii. 19, 13), Mappa jam mille riimpitur fuHis, 
But it could only be his own mappa, in which he packed up all this 
store. They who were entitled to the latus clavus would, if vain 
men, have their mappse and mantelia ornamented in like manner. 
We discover this, apart from the passages in the /Scriptores Mstorim 
Augustes, which treat of the imperial tables, from Petronius and 
Martial, iv. 46, 17 : Zato variata mappo clavo. 

They appear to have made use of very few instruments to con- 
vey the food to the mouth ; and, however strange it may seem, we 
cannot refute what Baruffaldus, De Ar mis Convivalihus, says, that 
the bare finger was in a great measure used. See Ovid, AH. Am. 

iii. 736 : 

Carpe cibos digitis ; est quiddam gestus edendi ; 
Ora nee immunda tota perunge manu. 
Mart. V. 78, 6 : 

Ponetur digitis tenendus -unctis 
Nigra cauliculus virens patella. 
and iii. 17. 

The only implements mentioned (for the knife belongs to the 
structor only, and forks are never spoken of,) are cochlear and ligula. 
The first evidently takes its name from cochlea, but it is ridiculous 
to refer this to its shape, thus confounding cochlea and concha. 
Martial (xiv. 121) says that a double use was made of it : 
Sum cochleis habihs, nee siun minus utilis ovis : 
Numquid scis, potius cur cochleare vocer ? 



47 8 THE TABLE UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

but tlie very part used to eat tlie cochlea, has least resemblance to 
it. It was probably a spoon with a point at one end, for the pur- 
pose of extracting the interior of the muscle. Hence Pliny (xxviii. 
2, 4) says, Perforare ovoinim calyces cochlearibus, i. e. from supersti- 
tion, to perforate the already emptied shells ; and therefore Martial 
(\m. 71) names an acu levnis cochlear. This point was also used 
for the purpose of opening eggs, and probably the spoon at 
the other end for emptying them. Petron. 33. [Three ancient 
silver spoons, about the size of a dessert-spoon, are copied in 
Mus. Borh. x. 46. Two of them are oval, with no points, one 
roimd and terminating in a point. The first two are probably 
ligulae, regular spoons without pointed ends ) the last, a cochlear 
with point.] 

The meaning of ligula is not so clear. Baruffaldiis erroneously 
considers it to mean the same as cochlear. That such was not the 
case, is sufficiently demonstrated by Martial (viii. 71), 

Octavus [annus] ligiilam misit sextante minorem ; 
Nonus acu levins vix cochleare tulit. 

where he relates how the gifts of Postumianus became year by 
year more insignificant, and (viii. 33) when he had received a very 
light jo/wa/a. We see by all these passages, that the ligula was 
larger than the cochlear (although it, too, is called gracilis, Mart. v. 
18, 2) ; but that something similar is to be understood, we learn 
partly from the etymology, in conformity with which the gram- 
marians demanded (Mart. xiv. 120) that it should be written lingula, 
and partly from the glossaries, which translate it by fxvarpwv, a 
spoon. 

The food was not served in single dishes, but each course was 
brought in by the slaves, standing on a frame, and thus placed on 
the table. These table-trays were called repositoria -, in the coena 
Trimalchionis, this was the case not only with the gustus, but with 
the differentybr«//« and the mcnsce seciindce. Petron. 33, 40, &c. The 
apparatus used for serving up the promidsis, was called promulsidare 
and gustatoriiim. Petron. 31. It is not easy to conceive how pro- 
mulsidare can have been taken for promulsis itself. From Ulpian 
{^Dig. xxxiv. 2, 20) we find that the promulsidaria were distinguished 
from the 7'epositoria, and the expression scutellce adds another par- 
ticular kind, [i. e. saucers, fiat dishes.] But how the reading, in 
Pliny, xxxii. 11, 4Q,jam vero et mensas repositoriis imponirmis, can be 
defended, is not clear, as several stories set one upon another would, 
in that case, be meant. These trays were at first simply of wood, 
but at a later period were more in unison with the splendour in 
other things, and quite covered the table, or even reached over 



Scene IX.] THE TABLE UTENSILS. 479 

the sides of it, as must naturally have been the case when a boar 
was served up entire. Plin. i. 1, 52. 

The utensils on which the food was served appear to have been 
as numerous as with us. Patince [Varro, L. L. v. 120. — The patina 
was more deep than flat, Hor. 8at. ii. 8, 43 \ Plin. xxxv. 12, 46 ; 
Isid. XX. 4 ; Non. xv. 6] ; catini [or catilli, Varro, v. 120, a capiendo. 
Hor. Sat i. 3, 90; 6, 115, ii. 2, 39; 4, 77 ; Juv. vi. 343; Non. xv. 26] ; 
lances [quite flat, and diflering much in shape, Hor, 8at ii. 4, 40 ; 
Juv. V. 80 ; Plin. xxxiii. 11, 52 j Pauli. Dig. vi. 1, 6 ; quadrata, 
rotunda, pura, ccelata. Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19] ; scutulce, [Mart. viii. 
71] ; gahatce, [Mart, above] ; paropsides, [square, Isid. xx. 4 ; Charis. 
i. 82 ; Mart. xi. 27 ; Juv. iii. ]42; also called 'parapsis, Suet. Galh. 
12 ; Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 19,] are named, all probably varying in form ; 
some flat, others hollow, round, angular, and oval, with and without 
covers [or handles]. Nonius mentions sixteen, and the catinus only 
without explanation. As regards material, see above. [Some more 
names occur. Magida and langula, Varro, L. L. v. 120 ; mazonormim, 
a large dish, Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 86 ; Pollux \\. 87 ,• holetar, a small dish 
for holeti ; but also for other viands. Mart. xiv. 101, Boletaria : 

Cum mihi boleti dederint tam nobile Bomen, 
Prototomis, pudet, lieu, servio coliculis. 

the indispensable salt-cellar, salinum, Isid. xx. 4 ; Liv. xxvi. 36 ; 
Plaut. Pers. ii. 3, 15; Hor. Sat. i. 3, 14; co7iclia salis, Od. ii. 16, 14; 
Pers. iii. 25 ; Becker's Charicles, Eng. trans, p. 252 ; and the 
vinegar cruet, acetahuhm, Isid. xx. 4 ; Ulp. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 20. See 
Mus. Borh. viL 56, ix. 44, v. 15.] 

It would be vain to attempt an accurate explanation of all 
the different drinking-vessels mentioned in Nonius, Isidorus, Pollux, 
and elsewhere, and still less a commentary on Athenaeus. Besides, 
to some of them, as the poczda, scyphus, there is no fixed shape ; 
but many names do refer to a certain form, and will therefore 
admit of explanation. 

The customary larger-sized measure, according to which they 
usually reckoned, was the amphora, which is identical with the 
quadrantal. Fest. Exc. 133. The smaller measures into which 
the amphora was divided were the congius and sextarius. Festus, 
s. V. publica pondera, 246, quotes from the Plehiscitum Silianum, 
according to which eight congii were equal to an amphora, and six 
sextarii to a congius. In addition to these we have the uma, 
which contained four congii, and the cyathus, or twelfth part of the 
sextarius. The cadus was not only a Poman, but a Grecian 
measure, the amphora Attica. Rhemn, Fann. De po7id. et mens, 84. 



4.80 THE TABLE UTENSILS. [Excursus IIL 

Tt held three urntB, or twelve congii. Bj means of the Roman 
standard measuring vessels, that are still extant, we are able to 
determine with certainty the relation of their measures to those in 
use at the present day. The Farnese congius, preserved in the 
Dresden Gallery, is of particular importance. It is of bronze, 
gauged in 828 A. u. c, and bears the inscription, Imp. CcBsare Vesp. 
VI. T. Cess. Aug. F. III. Cos. mensurce exactcs in capitoUo P. X. 
This vessel was measured by Beigel with great exactness, and the 
result, with a history of it by Hase, were communicated in the 
PalcBologiis, or Kleine Aufsätze. Leips. 1837. 

In the same collection is a sextarius, concerning which the 
treatise also gives information. 

By the division of the sextarius into twelve cyatlii, eleven 
different measures arose, having the same names as the parts of the 
as, only that the single part, instead of imcia, was called cyathus. 
They are, I. cyathus ; II. sextans ; III. quadrans ; IV. triens ; V. 
quincunx; VI. semis; VII. septunx; VIII. hes] IX. dodrans; X. dcx' 
tans ; XI. deunx ; XTI. sextarius. Of these, however, only the 
cyathus and triens can be considered real vessels. The trientes, 
which are often named, were regular drinking-vessels, goblets. 
Mart. (x. 49) says, potare amethystinos trientes ; but mention is no- 
where made of quincunces aurei, or amethystird, although we have 
quineuncem hihere. The trientes were classed, it seems, among the 
goblets of middling size : for they held four cyathi. The cyathus, 
however, was not a goblet, but only a measure or ladle, to allot to 
each person the fixed number. See Tleind. on lior. Sat. i. 6, 117. 
They had regular ^weros a cyatho (Mitsch. on Hor. Od. i. 29. 8), 
and hence we do not find cyatho hihere, although W9 have sex, 
Septem cyathis hihere. [Mart, i, 72.] In the Mus. Borh. (iv. 1. 12) 
are four small ladle glasses, with longer or shorter handles, which 
are declared to be simpnla, or simpuvia. They would at once 
appear to be cyathi, were they not of different sizes, and were any 
account given of their measure; nevertheless, we may refer them to 
the cyathus, as it is probable that in the ladles the measure of the 
cyathus was not always adhered to. The engraving opposite 
represents two of them. [The proper Roman names for these 
small ladles were guttus and simpuvium, instead of which the Greek 
terms epichysis and cyathus got into vogue. Varro, L. L. v. 124. 
Paul, p. 337. The urceoli were different ; frigida or calda was 
brought in them to the guests, hence called ministratorii, Mart. xiv. 
105 : Frigida nan desit, non deerit calda petenti. Pomp. Dig. xxxiv. 
2, 21. The ai'millum was similar. Varro in Non. xv. 33.] 



Scene IX.] THE TABLE UNTENSILS. 



481 





As regards the shape of the gohlets generally, we must especially 
distinguish, I. between flat saucers {paterce phialce, Varro, L. L. 
V. 122 ; Mart. viii. 33, iii. 41 ; Poll. yI. 4, 6 ; Isid. xx. 5.] 

II. Cups with handles (Virg. Eel. vi. 17 : 

Et gravis attrita pendebat cantharus ansa. 

Cic. Verr. iv. 27, [Cantharus was a great goblet used by Bacchus 
and his train ; Macr. Sat. v. 21 ; Plin. xxxiii. 11, 53 ; from pictm*es 
it would seem to have had two handles. Often in Plautus. Poll, 
vi. 96 ; Ath. xi. p. 473. The trulla was smaller, originally a scoop). 
Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 143 ; where Acron explains it calix rusticanus. 
Cato, R. R. 10, 11, 13. But it was sometimes of costly materials. 
Juv. iii. 108 ; Orell. 3838 ; Plin. xxxvii. 2, 7 ; Mai't. ix. 97 ; Scaev. 
Dig. xxxiv. 2, 36, The capis and capula had handles, Varro v. 121 : 
a capiendo, quod ansatcB ut preliendi possent. Non. xv. 33. Also 
scyphus ; for Pauli, says, Dig. vi. 1, 23 : si quis scypho ansam vel 
fundum (adjecerit) ; in Ath.xi. p. 500, several are mentioned. Its 
size is known from the fact that it was sacred to Hercules, Petr. 
62, iirnaJes scyplii ; Macrob. v. 21 ; Serv. ad Vii-g. jFm. viii. 278. 
Beautifully worked soAjphi are mentioned by Suet. Ner. 47 \ Plin. 
xxxvii. 2, 7, xxxiii. 12. Thericleum was a cup originally earthen, 
with two handles ; it took its name from the Corinthian potter 
Therikles, Luc. Leiiph. 7 ; Ath. xi. 470 ; Cic. Vcrr. iv. 11 ; Plin. 

I I 



482 



THE TABLE UTENSILS. [Excursus I Li. 



xvi. 14, 76 ; Salinas. Exerc. Plin. p. 734. Bentleii Op. Philol pp. 11. 
216.] 

III. Those in tlie form of chalices (calices), Tvliich must not 
he fancied as having stood on a high foot : the glass vessels repre- 
sented in the foUov^ing engravings taken from the Mus. Borh. 




(t.l3), are of this kind; [also the silver cup 3Ius. Borh. xi. 45. Of 
the calix Varro says, L. L. v. 127 : caldiim eo bibebant, and that it 
was named from the calda ; the better derivation is kvXi^. Macrob. 
V. 21 ', Ath. xi. p. 480 ;'] they were sometimes of earthen ware, 
Mart. xiv. 102^ Calices Siirrentini : 

Accipe non vili calices de pulvere nates, 
Sed Surrentinae leve toreuma rotse. 

ib. 108, Calices Saguntini: 

Sume Saguntino pocula ficta luto, 

[of glass, ib. 115, 94 : of precious stones, 109. There were several 
sorts, e. g. calices Vatiniani, Mart. xiv. 96, x. 3 ; Juv. v. 46 : calicem 
nasoruin quatuor ; the calices ptet'oti, i. e. with handles, Plin. xxxvi. 
26, 66. It is wrong to suppose that all calices had handles ; this was 
the case only with a few of very peculiar shape. Plin. xxxiii. 23 ; 
Juv.viii. 168 5 Mart. xii. 70. Thei-marum calices ; see Forcellinus. 
The following are quite unknown to us : obha, generally of wood 
or wicker, Non. xv. 14, ii. 597 ; poculi genus, Pers. v. 148, called 
sessilis ; modiolus, Scsev. Dig. xxxiv. 2, 36 ; cyrnea, Non. xv. 29 j or 
hirnea (?) Plaut. Amjjh. i. 1, 273, 276 ; Cato B. B. 81 ; culigna, 
vas potorium, Pauli, p. 51 ; Cato, B. B. 132.] 



Scene IX.] THE TABLE UTE^^SILS. 483 

Of tlie rest, there were, of course, many varieties, some also in 
fantastic shapes, as shoes, legs, [boats, hence called cymhrium, 
Paul. p. 51 ; Non. xv. 21 ; Isid. xx. 5 j Mart. viii. 6 ; Plin. xxxvii. 
.34, 113 ; Macrob. v. 21 ; Poll. vi. 16 ; Ath. xi. p. 481,] heads of 
beasts, &c. ; these latter were used as drinking-horns, from the 
lower end of which the wine escaped through an orifice, and was 
caught in the mouth. Such a horn, in the shape of a stag's head, 
is to be found in the Mus. Borh. (viii. 14), also three others, a 
horse's, a dog's, and a swine's head (v. 20). Such drinking-horns 
were termed pvTÖ.. Athen, xi. 496. Perhaps rhytium (Mart. ii. 35) 
means the same thing. They occur most frequently on vases, 
[also in frescoes]. See Boettig. Kimstymth. ii. 352, The act of 
drinking is seen in a painting in Zahn, Ornam. etc. t. 29 ; Pitt. 
(VErcol. V. t. 46. [See Becker's Charicles, Engl. Transl. p. 259] 
Obscene shapes were selected, and indecent things engraved upon 
the goblets. Juv. ii. 95 ; Plin. xxxiii. Praef. and xiv. 22. 

We have already spoken of the extraordinary luxury which pre- 
vailed in respect to these utensils. But besides those there de- 
scribed, there were others of a more simple kind, and of common 
glass (vitrea), in opposition to the ctystallma; of wood, ff^ffus, 
bu.vus, terehinthus, hedera (Tib. i. 10 ; Ovid. Fast. v. 522) ; also of 
ware ; see above. [Among the table utensils we may reckon, in a 
wider sense, those larger vessels which were set on the table, and 
either contained neat wine or served for mixing it in ; hence called 
mistarius or mistarium, Lucil. in Non. xv. 30, longa yeminus mista- 
rius ansa. Out of these the drink was then poured into the cups 
of the guests, after the Greek custom. The crate)- or cratera, was 
high, broad, goblet-shaped, with two handles. Isid. xx. 5 ; Ovid. 
Fast. V. 523 : 

Terra rubens crater, pocula fagus erant, 
Juv. xii. 44, urnce cratera capacem. Mus. Borh. ii. 32 ; vi. 63. 
See Becker's Charicles, Engl. Transl. p. 257. 

The sinus^ lepesta, galeola, were more paunchy, and like our tu- 
reens or bowls. Varro, L. L. v. 123 ; Varro in Prise, vi. p. 714 ; 
Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vi. 33 ; Non. xv. 34, 35. Among the Greeks, 
the \i7ranTi) was also used as a drinking-cup. Ath. xi. p. 484 j 
Poll. X. 75. See Mus. Borh. x. 14, ix. 44, xii. 45, vii. 29; the last 
of terra cotta with the inscription : Bihe amice de meo. 

There were also cups and jugs, inscribed, some with small 
mottos (as reple, sitio, hihe, valeamus, lüde, etc.) ; some with the 
name of the owner ; urna literata. Lucian. Lexiph. 7, -n-o-ijpia ypu^- 
fxariKci. Ath. xi. p. 4G6. Whole lines were rarely inscribed on 
them. Ath. ib. Becker refers to this the scyphi Homerici of Nero. 
I I 2 



484 THE TABLE UTENSILS. [Excursus III. 

Lastly come the stands and platters on which the amphorae and 
other vessels were set at a meal. Paul. p. 107, Incitega machinula, 
in qua constituehatur in convivio vijii amphora, de qua suhinde defer- 
rentur vina. Ath, v. p. 209, iyyvGrjicrj. Javol. Dig. xxxii. 1. 100, 
ßd<TsiQ — vasorum collocandorum. In Mus. Borh. v. 15, there is a 
stand for two vessels with a handle in the middle.] 

The echinus (at least by Voss and Heindorf on Hor. Sat. i. 6, 
117, adstat echinus vilis) is explained to be a bowl for washing the 
goblets in. On vessels for warm drinks, see the next Excursus. 
[The observations made above upon lamps and vessels generally 
apply also here ; viz. that all the vessels that have been discovered 
betray much fine taste and sense of the beautiful. They will 
always be a standing testimony that the whole life of the ancients 
was thoroughly penetrated with grace and art] 



EXCUKSUS lY. SCENE IX. 



THE DEINES. 



ALTHOUGH Roman authors name several di-inlrs, prepared 
botli from grain, as zythum ; from wKeat and barley, camtim 
and cerevisia {ceria, celid) ; from fruits, as the quince^ cydoneum ; 
and from honey and water, as hydromeli, consequently a sort of 
mead ; yet the Romans knew (besides the äpiarov vdwp) wine only 
as a drink -, and those potations resembling beer, cider, and mead, 
belonged only to diiferent provinces, governed by Roman laws, 
and are therefore taken cognizance of among other things, under 
the head de vino legato. Ulp. Dig. xxxiii. 6, 9 ; Pliny, xxii. 25 ; 
Ex iisdem (frugibus) ßunt et potus, zythum in j^gypto, celia et ceria 
in Hispania, cerevisia et plura genera in Gallia aUisqiie provinciis. 

Wine was, however, no doubt mixed with other things^ to 
produce certain drinks, the way of preparing and taking which 
was, in general, quite different from ours. 

The following are the most important of the numerous works 
on this subject, Pliny, xiv. 8, seqq. ; Colum. xii., with Schneider's 
remarks, ii. ; Virg. Georg, ii,, with Voss' notes ; Athen, i. ; Poll. vi. 
4 ; Galen, De Antidotis, i. 9 ; Dig. xxx. 6 : and of modern authors, 
Bacci, de vinis cerevis. ac conviv. ; Beckmann, Beitr., &c., i. 183 ; 
Boettiger, TJeher die Pßege d. Weins, b. d. alt. Horn. 

Pliny's remark^ Ac si quis diligenter cogitet, in nulla parte 
operosior vita est, ceu non saluberrimum potum aquce liquorem natura 
dederit, can be applied to our own times, but the process among 
the ancients was much more tedious. The grapes hung upon the 
trees till they became ripe (yinum pendens) Plaut. Triti. ii. 4, 125 ; 
Cato, JR. JR., 147), and were collected in baskets, corbzdcBjßscellce, 
and also in skins : legere and cogere are the terms for this opera- 
tion. Cat. H. B., 65, 66 ; Col. i. 2, 70. 

The bas-relief of a marble basin in the J^fus. JSorb. ii. t. 11, 
representing a vintage of the satyi-s, is very amusing : some of them 
are carrying the grapes in skins of animals sewn together, others 
press them with a piece of rock : in all the figures there is an 
expression of life and merriment suitable to a vintage. [In another 
relief, two figures carr}^ the grapes in baskets, three others tread on 
them, and two fill the vessels with new wine. Passer. Zuc. Fict. 

4S Comp. Varro, L. L. vi. 16, vinalia.'] 



486 THE DEINES. [Excursus IV. 

The collected grapes were next trodden upon witli the naked 
feet; calcare. Geopon. vi. 11 ; Virg. Georg, ii. 7 : 
Hue, pater o Lensee, veni nudataque musto 
Tingue novo mecum dereptis crura cothurnis. 
After treading them out twice, the husks were placed under the 
press, and hence the distinction between the vinum or mustum 
calcatum, and pressum. According to Pliny ix., the first sort (pro- 
tropum) was the spontaneous exudation of the grape. The second 
sort was the first flowing ofi" during the process of treading, ante- 
quam nimium calcetur uva, and it was used above all others for 
making mulsum (Col. xii. 41) ; and, lastly, the later draining ofij 
which partook more of the roughness of the husk. [The wine 
obtained by pressing the husks a second time, with the addition 
of water, was called lora ; which they sweetened and improved by 
various compounds. It would only keep a year at furthest, and 
was drunk by the slaves, and poor, also by the women, Varro, 
B. B. i. 54 ; Col. xii. 41 ; Cat. 57 -, Plin. xiv. 10, 12.] 

In order to allow the watery particles to escape, the grapes were 
also spread on trellis-work, and left there for seven days. This 
was called vinum diachytum. Pliny, ita ßeri optimi odoris sa- 
porisque. If sweeter and stronger wine were desired, the grapes 
were allowed to wither entirely, i(,va passa, vinum 2msmm. Finally, 
it was boiled. [In a fresco, Cupids are seen pressing grapes and 
boiling the must -, a small oven being near the wine-press for this 
purpose.] Pliny, ihid. Nam sircsum, quod alii hepscma, nostri sapam 
appellant, ingenii, non naturce opus est, musto usque ad tertiam pai'tem 
m^ensurce decocto ; quod uhi factum ad dimidium est, defridumvocanfius. 
Commoner wines were doctored with this boiled wine j and even 
in those days the art of improving cheaper wines, by mixing them 
with the dregs of those of finer quality, had been discovered. Hor. 
Sat. ii. 4, 55 ; Col am. xii. 30. 

The must was immediately dravni off" from the lacus torcularius. 
into large earthen vessels, dolia, (Non. xv. 6,) for the purpose of 
undergoing fermentation, condere. Varro, i. 65. Wooden wine- 
vessels were not in use in Pliny's time, either in Greece or Rome, 
as he expressly states, c. 21. V^hen Pallad. x. 11, says, dolium 
ducento)'um cmigiorum xii lihris picetur, it appears scarcely possible 
that earthen vessels, capable of containing twenty-five amphorae, 
could have been made j but we may suppose that these dolia were 
of considerable dimensions from the comparison in Plaut. Fseud. ii. 
2, 64, anus doUaris. There is also a striking passage in Petron. 64 : 
Ecce autem deductus lacunarihus subito cireidus inge7is, de cupa 
videlicet grandi excussus, demittitur. V^hen Boettiger said, ^ it was 



Scene IX.] THE DRINKS. 487 

always considered preferable not to use doUa of any very great 
size, to keep the better wines in/ lie misunderstood Pliay, v. 21, 
according- to wbom, not large, but too round, vessels were rejected, 
and longer ones of less diameter, recommended instead. [The 
pictures of dolia show that they were, on the contrary, round and 
broad. See Pass. Luc. Fict. ii. 40. But the vessels into which 
the wine was put for present use were of a long narrow form ; 
whence these have, necessarily, handles, which is not always the 
case with the former.] The serice, in Col. xii. 18, distinguished 
from the dolia, answered the same purpose. 

The dolia were smeared with pitch before being used : new ones 
were so treated at once, after coming from the oven. Geop. vi. 4. 
Boettiger's remark, ^ that the young wine was immediately poured 
into these earthen vessels, which had been previously smeared with 
wax, imbuere,' seems hasty ; for what Columella says of ceratura 
(xii. 52, 16), applies only to the dolia olearia, with which Cato (69) 
agrees, only that he recommends the second process with the 
amurca. After this operation, for which the best pitch, tempered 
with a little wax (one twelfth, Pallad.), as well as with aromatics, 
was used, the subsequent process is described by Pliny, c. 21 : 
Ficari oportere protinus ä catiis 07^tu, postea perftmdi marina aqua 
aut salsa, dein cinere sarmenti aspergi vel argilla, ahstei^sa myrrha 
surffiri ipsasque scepius cellas, Geopon. vi. 9. [Whence vinum 
picatum. Mart. xiii. 107 ,• Plut. ISympos. v. 3. 

They were then filled, but never to the brim. Pliny ; Comp. 
Geop. vi. 12. The vessels remained unclosed as long as the fer- 
mentation was going on, [Sen. Ep. 83.] and even then were not 
fastened either by a cork, pitch, or gypsum. The cella vinaria, in 
which the dolia were kept, was a cool chamber [towards the north], 
entirely, or at least so far above the ground, that it could have 
wiadows. But the dolia were at times either partially, or altogether 
let into the ground. Pliny. These are dola demersa (Colum. xii. 
17, 5), or depressa {Dig. xxxiii. 6, 3), also defossa (ib. 7, 8). 

Much wine was drunk direct from the dolium, or cupa ; vinum 
doliare, or de cupa. Boettiger is quite wrong in explaining the 
words of Cicero, vinum a propola et de cupa, as follows : ' to take 
the wine from the landlady.' Even if the form cupa for copa be 
allowed, (see Bentley on Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 123, and Ilgen, de Copa 
Virg.^, yet the different prepositions prove that cupa signifies a 
larger wine vessel, for the same use as the dolium [but more easy of 
transport, and not so immohilis as the dolia. Ulp. Dig. ib.'] 

Is was, however, the common wine only which would not bear 
keeping (jxtatem ferre) ; the better kind, when perfectly settled, was 



488 THE DEmXS. [Excursus II. 

distributed into amphorae, or lagenae (diffundehatur) . Pliny could 
not tell whether this took place in more ancient times, c. 14. 
\_OrccB and cadi were, like the amphorcß and lagence, long and thin 
with a narrow neck, and often ending in a point below ; whence 
they had either to be stuck in the ground, or in a stand, incitega. 
The difference between these and the dolia is clear from Proc. Dig. 
xxxiii. 6, 15 : Vinum in amphoras et cados hac tnente diffundimus, ut 
in his sit, donee usus causa prohetur et scilicet id vendimus cum his 
amphoris et cadis ; in dolia aidem alia inente conjicimus, scilicet ut ex 
his postea vel in amphoras et cados diffundamus, vel sine ipsis doliis 
veneat. Persius says of the area (iii. 60), angtist<2 collo non fallier 
orccB. Varro in Non. xv. 24 j Isid. xx. 6; Nonius, xiv. 9, explains 
cadi to be vasa quibus vi?ia conduntur. Pomp. Dig. xxxiii. 6, 14. 
They are often mentioned by Horace and Pliny. Tince or tinia 
were antique wine-vessels, the form of which is unknown. Paul, 
p. 365 ; Non. xv. 7. The same is the case with the diota. Hor. Od. 
i. 9, 8, and the cenophorus or cenophorum. Hor. Sat. i. 0, 109 ; 
Pers. V. 140 ; Lucil. in Non. ii. 800. The amphorse differed much 
in form, as is plain from the grave-lamp. Passer. Luc. iii. 51. 
The skins, idres, Petron. 34, cannot be discussed here. Other arti- 
cles besides wine were stored in these amphorae, cadi, lagense, e.g. 
honey, muria, and other salsamenta, oil, olives, dried figs, etc. Hor. 
Sat. ii. 4, 68 j Plin. xv. 21 ; Martial, xiv. 116, i. 44. On the sealing 
of the vessels, see above.] The size of the amphora and cadus has 
been already discussed. These vessels resem.bling the amphora were 
generally made of clay, [hence rubens ruber, Mart. i. 56 ; iv. 66 ; 
fragilis, Ovid, Met. xii. 243 ; seldom of stone, Plin. xxxvi. 12, 43,] 
and fastened up by a bung (cortex, suber), and then covered with 
gypsum, or pitch, to prevent any effects from the air. [Col. xii, 23j 
Plin. xiv. 27, xxiii. 24.] Petron. 34. On the amphora of earthen- 
ware the name of the wine and consul was written on the vessel 
itself, to mark the date ; but labels (notce, tituli, tesseree, pittacia), 
with the name, were hung on those of glass. Comp. Beckman, 
Beifr. ii. 482 ; [ Juv. v. 33 : 

Cras bibet Albanis aliquid de montibus, aut de 
Setinis, cujus patriam titulumque senectus 
Delevit multa veteris fuligine testse. 

See Hor. Sat. i. 10, 24, 7iota Falerni; Colum. xii. 19 ; Plaut. Poen. 
iv. 2, 14, litei-atas ßctiks epistolas. Several such labels have been 
found, one with the inscription, RVBR VET. V. P. CIL, i.e. ru- 
brum vetus vinum picatum, No. 102.] It is interesting to leai-n by 
pictures from Pompeii (Mus. Barb. iv. ; Helaz. de Scav. t. A. and 
V. t. 48) [Gell. Pomp. 81,] the manner of conveying wine which had 



Scene IX.] THE DUINKS. 489 

been purchased. Botli the pictures are alike ; they represent two 
carriages, consisting of a light rack-shaped body, and the whole 
interior of which is filled by a single large skin. This skin has in 
front a wide opening, which is tied up, and through which the wine 
was evidently poured, whilst behind, it is produced into a narrow 
bag, from which the wine was sufiered to run out. Two men are 
busily letting off the contents into long two-handed vessels, 
amphorae. It was therefore not must, but wine. 

The amphora was next placed in the apotheca, which was quite 
different from the cella vinaria, and in the upper story : the best 
position for it was above the bath, so that the smoke might be 
conducted thither, and so forward the wine. Colum. i. 6, 20 ; 
comp. Heind. on Hor. Sat ii. 5, 7 ; and Hor. Od. iii. 8, 9 ; from 
which we may learn the whole process : 

Hie dies anno redeunte festus 
Corcicem adstrictum pice demovebit 
Amphorae, fumum bibere institutse 
Consule TuUo. 

Hence such expressions as Descends testa (iii. 21, 7), and Far eis 
deripere horreo amphoram (28, 7), may be explained. 

After this process the wine still retained a good deal of lees, 
and, if wanted for use, had to be cleared. This was effected in 
various ways. The gourmand, who (Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 51) : 

Massica si cceIg snppones vina serene, 
Nocturna, si quid crassi est, tenuabitur aura, 
Et decedet cdor nervis inimicus ; at ilia 
Integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem. 

communicates the result of his experience about the kitchen and 
cellar, states the best means. The method of purifying wine by 
eggs was known. Ibid. 55 : 

Surrentina vafer qui miscet fsece Falerna 
Vina, columbine limum bene colligit ovo ; 
Quatenus ima petit volvens aliena vitellus. 

It was in general, however, strained through the saccus vinarius 
and the colum, a kind of metal sieve, with small holes in it. Num- 
bers of such cola have been discovered at Pompeii. In the 3Ius. 
Borh. iii. t. 31, are five smaller ones, all of which had handles, and 
were consequently held in the hand during the straining. In ii. 
t. 60, is a larger one with two handles, by which it was probably 
hung over a vessel, into which wine was running. A copy of it is 
given here. A silver bowl with beautiful ccslatura, and also a 
silver colum, may have served a like purpose. Ibid. viii. t. 14. 



490 



THE DRmKS. 



[Excursus 1Y. 



[Plin. xxiii. 24.] The saceus, on the contrary, was a filter-bag of 
linen, and tlie worst means, as by being strained tbrough it the 
wine became wretched {vappd). Hence in Horace : 
Integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem. 
The relative position to each other of colmn and saceus, is 




Scene IX.] THE DKINKS. 491 

shown by comparing two epigrams of Martial, xiv. 103, Colmn 
nivarium : 

Setinos moneo nostra nive frange trientes ; 
Pauperiore mero tingere lina potes. 
and xix. 104, Saccus nivarius : 

Attermare nives norunt et lintea nostra, 
Frigidior colo non salit unda tuo. 

But the Saccus was used also for good wine. Mart. viii. 43. It was 
customary to fill the colum and saocus with snow, upon which the 
wine was poured for the purpose of being cooled. With this view, 
the snow was carefully preserved till summer-time, just as is now 
the case in Naples, (Estivce nives. Mart. v. 64, ix. 23, 8, 91, 5- Pliny, 
xix. 4, 19. This, however, was not enough, for by a still greater 
refinement a difierence was discovered between snow and water 
boiled, but afterwards reduced to freezing point by being mixed 
with snow. Plin. xxxi. 8, 23 ; Net^onis principis inventum est, 
decoquere aquam vitroque demissam in nives refrigerare. Mart. xiv. 
107, and 106, Lagena nivaria : 

Spoletina bibis, vel Marsis condita cellis : 
Quo tibi decoctse nobile frigus aquae. 

In this way the water sometimes cost more than the wine, as 
Martial says, Ep. 108. They had, besides, another object in this 
straining — to moderate the intoxicating power of the old heavy 
wine. Pliny, xiv. 22 -, comp, xxiii. 1, 24. This was termed cas- 
trare vinum (Pliny; xix. 4, 19), but the general expressions were, 
defcBcare, liquare, colare, saccare. 

The colour of most wines was probably dark, as is now the case 
with all the southern wines. There were, however, also wines of 
a lighter tint ; and as we distinguish between white and red, so did 
they between album and atrum. Plaut. Mencech. v. 5, 17. Pliny 
names four colours (xiv. 9), albus, fidvus, sanguineus, niger. Nigi-um 
and atrum denote the darkest red, and album the bright yellow, 
which we also call white. The celebrated Falernian was evidently 
of this colour, from the finest amber having been named after it. 
Plin. xxxvii. 3, 12. 

• From what we know concerning the treatment of wines, it is 
clear that old wines were considered preferable, and even a com- 
mon wine, if of some age, was more grateful than young Falernian. 
Mart. xiii. 120 : 

De Spoletiuis quse sunt eariosa lagenis, 
Maliieris, quam si musta Falerna bibas. 

[Plaut. Cas. Prol, 5 ; Cic. Ccel. 19 ; Ath. i. p. 26.] Perhaps as 



492 THE DRINKS. [Excursus IV. 

much deception was practised tlien as in tlie present times about 
the age of wines. Mart. iii. 62 : 

Sub rege Numa condita \äna bibis. 
and xiii. 111. 

The amphorae on the table of Trimalchio bore the label^ Faler- 
num Opimianum annorum centum, in which there is a double 
absurdity : first^ in assigning a fixed age to wine^ which every year 
became older, and then in calling the Opimianum a century old, as 
that period, the most illustrious in the annals of Italy, belonged to 
A.u.c. 633, and the wine must therefore at that time have been at 
least 160 or 170 years old, and we may easily conceive that at a 
still later period it was supposed to be drimk, long after it had, in 
fact, ceased to exist. 

The different growths are detailed by Pliny, xiv. 6. Comp. 
Schneid. Ind. Script. 411 ; Mart. xiii. 106—122. [Vitruv. viii. 3, 12; 
Ath. i. p. 26.] According to Pliny, the Ccscuhmn, Hor. Od. i. 20; 
Strab. V. p. 161^ had from ancient times held the first rank among 
western wines. Like all the best wines, it grew in Campania, in 
the Sinus Caietanus, near Amyclae. In the time of Pliny, the vine- 
yards had been ruined principally by the canal of Nero, but at an 
earlier period Augustus had assigned the palm to the Setinian, which 
also maintained its superiority after the Csecubum was lost. The 
Falemian was second in rank, and the best description of it, the 
Faustianum, grew between Sinuessa and Cedia, and is supposed to 
have received its name from Sylla (Faustus). [Hor, E^nst. i. 5, 5, 
at Sinuessa. A capital wine grew on Vesuvius. Flor. i. 16, amicti 
vitihus montes, Gaums, Falernus, Massicus, Vesuvius.'] The third 
place was contended for by the Albanum, Surrentimwi, and Massi- 
cum, as well as by the Calenum and Fundanum. After the time 
of Julius Caesar, the fourth place was held by the Mamertinum, 
from the neighbourhood of Messana, and Taurominitanum was fre- 
quently sold for it. The middling kinds were the Trifolinum, from 
the hill Trifolium, in Campania (in Mart. xiii. 14, septima vitis) : 
Signinum, Sabinum, [Hor. Od. i. 20], Nomentanum, and others. The 
commonest were Vaticanum (frequently mentioned by Mart. e.g. vi. 
92, Vaiicana bibis? bibis venenum. x. 45). To render it more 
drinkable, good old wine was sometimes intermixed ; Mart. i. 19 : 
Quid te, Tucca, juvat vetulo miscere Falerno 

In Vaticanis condita vina cadis. 
Veientanum, from the vicinity of Veii, which gained the epithet 
rubellum, from its colour having a reddish tint. Mart. i. 104. Be- 
sides these, there were the Pelignum, Mart. i. 27, xiii. 121 ; {Care- 
tanum, xiii. 124 ;) the Laletanum (from Spain), 27, vii. 53 ; and 



Scene IX.] THE DRIXKS. 493 

the Mass{lita7ium, x. 36, xiii. 123. Mucli adulteration was prac- 
tised, not only in mixing different wines [Hor. Sat. i. 10, 24], and 
adding sff/j« and defridnm, and foreign wines, especially from 
Tmolus, but also deleterious substances. See Beckmann, Beit7\ i.181. 

Next to tbese western wines came tbe transmarina, or Greek, 
wMch. Pliny esteemed. The best were the Thasium, CMum, 
Leshium, Sicyonium, Cyprium, and, in the time of Pliny, the Clazo- 
menium especially. [Hor. Sat. ii, 8, 15, CMum maris eiyers.'] Not 
only the vessels were sprinkled with sea- water, but it was put 
into several wines. [See Becker's Charicles, Engl. Transl. p. 256. 
Plin. xiv. 9, 23^ 24, xxiii. 24; Ath. i. p. 32. Va^jpa was any sort 
of wine spoilt. Plin. xiv. 20, 25 ; Acron ad Hor. Sat. i. 1, 104, 
ii. 3, 144.] 

Still they were not content with this variety, but the wines from 
a very early period (Plin. 13, 15) were doctored with all kinds of 
aromatics and bitters, SLsmyr?'Jia, aloes, and the like. Pallad. xi. 14. 
Even costly essential oils were mixed with the wines, which also 
were drunk out of vessels that had held them. Plin. xiii. 1, 5. 
Martial calls this foUata sitis, because the nardinum was also called 
sinrplj foUatum. Comp. Juv. vi. 303. 

Next to wine, the mulsum was a very favourite drink ; different 
accounts are given of the manner of preparing it. According to 
Colum. Txiii. 41), the best must was taken direct from the laciis, 
ten pounds of honey were then mixed with an urna of it^ and it 
was at once poured into lagence, and covered up with gypsum. 
After thirty-two days these vessels were to be opened ; and the 
drink poured into others. This way of making it, however, was 
not general, as is proved by Hor. Sat. ii. 4, 24 : 

Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno, 
Mendose, etc. 
by Macrob. Sat. vii. 12, [Plin. xxii. 24, 53. Midsum ex veter e 
vino idilissimum,'] and other passages. In Geopon. (viii. 25, 26), 
the two plans of making, viz. from four-fifths of wine and one of 
honey, and also from ten-elevenths of must and one of honey, are 
taught. Pallad. xi. 17. The Greek name for it was olvofxeXi ; 
which word, however, has another meaning also, among the 
Romans, as we see from TJlp. Dig. xxxiii. 6, 9. The different 
kinds of honey are mentioned in note 30, p. 61. The mulsum 
was principally drunk at the prandium and the gustus. Sack 
sometimes supplied its place. Mart. xiii. 106. 

The calday the only warm drink among the ancients, consisted 
of warm water and wine, perhaps with the addition of spice. 
Calda was drunk most in winter, but likewise at other seasons, 



494 



THE DRINKS. 



[Excursus IV. 



Mart. viii. 67. See Riip. on Jiiv. v. 63. Boettiger says, (Sab. ii. 
35), ' It is quite credible that the ancients had something to match 
our tea and coffee services ; ' and in corroboration of this, we call 
the attention of the reader to an ancient vessel, which evidently 




served for preparing-, or keeping warm the calda. It is of very 
elegant form, resembling a tureen, and is made of bronze. The 
engraving of it, given here, is copied from the Mus. Borh. iii. 63. 

In the centre is a cylinder reaching to the bottom, which held 
the coals for warming the liquids around it, and underneath this 
cylinder is an orifice for the ashes to fall through. The conical 
cover cannot be taken off, but there is underneath a second flat 
cover, which is moveable, and only covers the parts containing the 
fluids, leaving the remainder open. On the upper rim is a sort of 
cup, united by a pipe with the interior of the vessel, so that it 
might be filled without the lid being removed. On the opposite 
side a tap is fixed, for the purpose of letting the liquid run out. 

The use of this vessel is undoubted, but a Roman name can 
hardly be assigned to it, and from among those named by Poll. x. 
66; \j)tpixavT7]p, not] i-irvoKißtiQ, after Lucian (Lexiph. 828), seems the 



Scene IX.] THE DRINKS. 495 

only probable one. The most natural name would certainly be 
caldarium, but for tbat we baye no authority. We must not sup- 
pose that such a vessel was always used for the calda, as in general 
the water was brought in jugs or cans, named by Martial, xiv. lOo, 
urceoli Tninistratorii. [A much more simple vessel for calda is now 
in the possession of the king of Denmark. It is like an amphora, 
with two handles and a double bottom. The outer partition most 
likely held the warm water^ which kept the calda warm, in the 
middle.] 



EXCUESUS I. SCENE X. 



THE CHAPLETS. 

IT is not our intention to discuss in its fullest extent and several 
relations tlie use made by tlie ancients of chaplets, — a subject 
entering deeply into civil and religious life, as the simple ornament 
of leaves became a symbol of martial renown and civil virtue. 
There is no lack of works upon the subject. Paschalius, in his 
CoroncB, gives a tolerable collection of badly elaborated materials ; 
the work of Lanzoni, de Coronis et Unguentis in ant. Conv., confines 
itself to the banquets ; and still less important is that of Schmelz el, 
De Coronis. The notices, however, given directly by ancient 
authors are of more consequence. As the work upon chaplets by 
tEUus Asclepiades, and the writings of the physicians Mnesitheus 
and Callimachus, are lost, our information is mainly derived from 
Athenseus (xv.), Pliny xxi., 1, 4, and other scattered passages. 
See Salmas. Exercitt. od SoUn. 

It would be difficult to assign any year or period when the use 
of chaplets at meals, or rather at the carousal, was first introduced 
at Rome ; but we learn from Pliny, that as early as the second 
Punic war chaplets of roses were worn. The walls of the triclinium 
only were, however, privy to this decoration, which, although so 
harmless in itself, was considered incompatible with sobriety of 
character, and he who appeared in public so adorned was liable to 
punishment. Two examples of such punishment are related by 
Pliny, (56, L. Fulvius argentarius hello Punico secundo cum corona 
rosacea interdiu e pergida sua in forum prospexisse dictus, ex aucto- 
ritate senatus in carcerem abductus, non ante ßnem belli emissus est. 
P. Munatius, cum demtam Marsyce coronam efloribus capiti suo im- 
posuisset atque oh id duci etim in vincula ti'iumvhn Jussissent, ajjpel- 
lavit tribunes plebis. Nee intercessere Uli) ; but it was perhaps only 
the flowers that drew down this condemnation, because at that 
period of misfortune such an open display of luxury seemed to 
have a dangerous tendency. On the other hand, it would appear 
that fillets were worn round the head even before this time, to 
counteract the effects of the wine. Hence arose by degrees the 
chaplets of leaves and flowers, to which however the name coronce 
was not given till later, as in earlier times it was reserved for reli- 
gious usages and warlike distinctions. Pliny agrees with Athenseus 
(xv. 674), who follows the old writers concerning the early Grecian 
customs. The chaplets which superseded the simple fillets were 
not, however, considered as mere ornaments, but it was believed, or 



Scene X.] THE CHAPLETS. 497 

at least pretended, that certain leaves and flowers exercised a bene- 
ficial influence against the intoxicating power of wine. Thus, in 
Plutarch (S^mp. iii, 1), the physician Tryphon defends the use of 
chaplets at wine against the imputations of Animonius. He praises 
the e/TijLtgXfta and TroXvirsipia of former times^ which had discovered 
in the chaplets an antidote to the influence of wine : and Athenseus 
(675) mentions the same thing. 

A simple branch of green served for a chaplet at the games, 
and probably for the corona convivalis also in the first instance, 
flowers being a later intrusion. When, however, Pliny says that 
Pausias and Glycera were the first to weave chaplets of flowers, it 
is only an instance of persons celebrated in a manufacture being 
set up as the inventors of it, as we can cite statues with chaplets 
of flowers of a date far earlier than Pausias. The Greeks wove 
numerous kinds of flowers into chaplets ; but with the Romans 
it was difi'erent. Besides the gi'een leaves of the ivy, myrtle, and 
apium, they used but few garden-flowers for chaplets, and of these 
chiefly the violet and rose. Plin. s. 10. But they did not stop 
with these natural materials, especially as chaplets were required 
in winter also, when roses could be obtained only at a very great 
expense ; hence imitations were made of various materials. What 
Pliny says (s. 3) of the gold and silver garlands, applies only to 
the public games, but the words coronis — qucB vocatitu?- yEgyptiw ac 
deinde hihernce^ refer to the coronce convivcdes. No further intelli- 
gence is given about the Egyptian ones (see Boettig. Sah. i. 231) ; 
but as they are distinguished from the hihernc^, they would seem 
not to have been artificial. The hibernae were made of thin leaves 
of horn dyed ; and such might be understood in Mai-tial (vi. 80), 
did not the Nova dona, and the antithesis, rus Pcsstamim, and hoHi 
Memphitid, point to natural flowers. 

Pliny (s. 8) relates that the luxury in them went still further. 
Chaplets were made of single rose-leaves by fastening them to a 
strip of bast, but we must not think that cormice sutiles are always 
to be taken in this sense, as the chaplets of nardus are also called 
sutiles, and the sericce versicolores likewise, although they were 
probably only imitations of flowers. See Lucan, Phars. x. 164 : 

Accipiunt sertas nardo florente coronas 

Et nunquam fugiente rosa, 
where the rosa nu7nquam fugiens refers probably to the ser{c<^. 
Mart. xiii. 51, Texta rosis vel divite nardo corona. The chaplets in 
those passages denominated sertce and textce are simply sutiles, ]vi&t 
as in Horace {Od. i. 38, 2), the nexcs pMlyra coroncB, but there is 
no reason to suppose chaplets e mero folio rosce. Chaplets were 



498 THE CHAPLETS. [ExciiRSus I. 

frequently foimd on monuments, witli leaf lying over leaf, and rose 
on rose ; and it is possible that, in sucli cases, the roses were fastened 
on a strip of bast, philyra ) they would then be rightly termed 
sutiles. These are meant in Ovid. Fast. v. 335 : 

Tempora sutilibus cinguntur tota coronis 
Et latet injecta splendida mensa rosa. 
Ebrius incinctis philyra conviva capillis 
Saltat. 
and Martial x. 94, Sutilis aptetur decies rosa crinihus, which seems 
to mean a chaplet of ten roses. The sutiles are again mentioned in 
Mart. V. 65, ix. 91 ; and pa/rroi (TTf.(pavot, in Hesychius and Salm. on 
Jul. Cap. Anfo7i. 4. Salm. Exer-c. ad Sol. 703, appears rightly to ex- 
plain the coroncB tonscs, oi tonsiles,tohe chaplets made of single leaves. 

Respecting the nature of the chaplets called pactiles by Pliny, 
we can presume nothing certain, not even whether they are to be 
distinguished from the coroncs plectiles of Plautus {Baccliid. i, 1. 37) ; 
and what he says (s, i.) is also obscure. We may in general assume 
three main distinctions ; they were either woven of longer twigs, 
as of ivy, or of shorter sprigs, as of the apium, or were fastened to 
a band. 

At the ccma itself chaplets were not generally used ; they be- 
longed, like the unguenta^ to the regular comissatio, or to the 
compotatio, succeeding the main course. They were distributed when 
the mensa secunda was served, or perhaps later. See Plut. Symp. 
iii. 1 ; Athen, xv. 685 and 669 ; Mart. x. 19, 18 ; Petron, 60, corcmce 
aurece cum alahastris imguenti. It appears to have been usual for 
the host to give chaplets, and sometimes to have them handed 
round repeatedly ; and we cannot infer from Ovid {Fasti i. 403) : 

Vina dabat Liber, tulerat sibi quisque coronam. 
that the ancient custom, according to which each guest took his 
own garland, was adhered to. 

They also hung festoons of flowers over their neck and breast, 
called by the Greeks virodvu'ihg. Plut. Sy7np. iii. 1, 3 ; Athen. 678 
and 688. This does not seem to have been usual amongst the 
Romans, but the custom is mentioned in Cic. Verr. v. iii. Ipse autem 
coronam hahehat unani in capite, alteram in collo. Catull. vii. 51 : 

Et capite et collo mollia serta gerat. 
and Ovid, Fasti ii. 739. In Petronius there are further instances of 
various ways of garlanding (65 and 70). Comp. Boettig. Sah. i. 240. 
At Rome the dietetic signification of the chaplet was lost sight of, 
and it was only regarded as a cheerful ornament and symbol of fes- 
tivity, giving occasion to many a joke and game, such as the hihere 
coronas. Plin. 9. 



EXCUESUS II. SCENE X. 



THE SOCIAL GrAMES. 



WE must not omit to mention those games which were pursued, 
not only as a recreation, hut also with the hope of gain. 
The game of hazard had become a most pernicious mania at Rome ; 
and severe legal prohibitions could not prevent the ruin of the 
happiness and fortunes of many by private gambling with dice. 
They had also other and more innocent games, success in which 
depended wholly on the skill of the players, like the game of chess 
at the present day, and other table-games. We shall mention all 
these games, but the matter is so intricate, and the inquiry so inti- 
mately connected with that into the Grecian games, that we cannot 
treat upon it fully ; but for a more detailed account the reader is 
referred to Becker's Antiquitates Tlautince. 

The older writings upon the subject by Bulenger, Meursius, 
Souter, Senftleben, Oalcagnino, are to be found in Gronovii, Thes. 
Antt. Grcec. viii. Next come Salmas. on Vopise. Procul, 13,73(5; 
and Exercitt. ad Sol p. 795 ; Eader on Mart, passim ; Wemsdorf 
on Saleius Bass. ; Wüstem, Pal des Scaur. 

In the game of dice, alea, two kinds of dice were used, tali or 
äd-payaXoi, and tesserce or Kvßoi. Herodotus (i. 94) ascribes the 
invention of the game to the Lydians ; but Athenseus (i. 19) cites 
anterior instances of it. Nitzsch, Anm. zu Horn. Odyss. i. p. 27. 
The tali (the chief passages about which are Eustath. on Odyss. i, 
p. 397 ; Poll. ix. 99) were originally made of the knuckles of animals ; 
afterwards of different materials : they had only four flat surfaces ; 
on the other two sides they were uneven or rounded, so that the 
die could not easily rest upon either of them. One and six were 
marked on two opposite sides, and three and four on the other, 
The numbers two and five were wanting. Eustath. p. 1397 ; Poll, 
as above. The manner of playing is described in Cic. De Divin. i. 
13 : Quatuor tali jacti casu Venereum eficiunt. Num etiam centum 
Venereos, si quadringentos talos jecei'is, casu futu7'os pviasf 

The four dice were thrown out of a cup of horn, box-wood, or 
ivory, which had graduated intervals inside, that the dice might be 
better mixed. This cup was narrower at the top than below, and 
from its shape was called pyrgus or turricula, also phimus, and most 
commonlj fritillus. Sidon. ^/s^. viii. 12 ; Mart, xiv. 16. Phimus 



500 THE SOCIAL GAMES. [Excursus II. 

is used, Hor. Sat. ii. 7, 17. Etym. Magn. ^inoi' KvßtvriKä öpyava. 
Poll. TÜ. 203 ; X. 150. Orca, Pers. iii. ; and in a fragment of Pom- 
ponius, it is also so explained. [Salmasius, Böttiger, and Orelli 
rightly assume a difference of form between the ß'itillus (as cup) 
and phimus (as tower) ; the latter had graduated intervals inside. 
So Cedren., i. p. 125, names to ■ipr](p6ßo\ov (^fi-itilliis), and distin- 
guishes from it Tov TTvpyov. See Vales, ad Harpocr. v. ^i^oi'.] 

The dice were thrown on a table made for the purpose, alveus, 
alveolus, abacus, with a slightly elevated rim to prevent them from 
falling. The best throw was called Venus or Ve^ierem (ßöXog, 
jactus), the worst canis. Prop. iv. 8, 45 : 

Me quoque per talos Venerera qugerente secundos, 
Semper damnosi subsiluere canes. 

These names, and a passage in Pollux, have led to the idea that 
the dice were not numbered, but had figures which stood for 
certain numbers. But it is doubtful whether Pollux, by the ex- 
pression <7x^i«« '■ov TTTUifiaTog, meant a mark on the dice, or the 
casual combination produced by the throw, as when three, four, four, 
six, or one, three, six, six, were turned up. Eustathius names the 
four sides novdSa Kal l^c'iSa, TpucSa Kai TSTpaSa, and indeed there 
were separate names for each turn up. Some throws appear to 
have counted more than were actually turned up. So says Eust. on 
Iliad, xxiii. 87, and also Pollux. Four dice only could have been 
played with, because with five the Venus would never have been 
thrown, and these four, even though seniones, could only count 
twenty-four. 

The most fortunate throw was when all four dice presented 
different numbers ; as is clear from Lucian, Arno?-. 884 -, Mart. xiv. 
14, Taliehorei'. 

Cum steterit nullus vultu tibi talus eodem 
Munera medices magna dedisse tibi ; 

it was called the Venus or Venereus. Whether KiTjog had the same 
signification, or meant seniones, is doubtful. 

The worst throw is supposed to have been when all four dice 
presented the same number, but this is not quite correct. It was 
not the same thing whether four fioväSeg, or four TSTpädeg, and so 
on, were turned up ; and there was no canis except all four pre- 
sented an ace. [Isid. xviii. 16, unum enim significat sc. canis.] This 
is shewn by Suet. Aug. 71, where the word canis is applied to the 
ace, as senio to the six ; (here the rule of the game was, that any 
one who turned up a single ace or a single six out of the four dice 
thrown, had to put an additional denarius into the pool, in singulos 
talos singidos denarios conferehat,) and so says Pollux, kuI to fiev 



Scene X.] THE SOCIAL GAMES. 501 

fj.ova.5a St]\ovv kvojv KaXeirai. In Plaut. Cu?'c. ii. 3, 75^ it is impro- 
bable tbat volturii quatuor denote canis, or that the hasilicus is 
equivalent to Venereus. The game was not always played so that 
the winning or losing depended on the Venereus or canis, but on 
the number of pips or ^loväSsg. The Greeks called this ttXsktto- 
ß \ivda -n-ai^Hv. Poll. ix. 95. Perhaps this was played more fre- 
quently with the regular six-sided dice, tesserce or Kvßoi, but the tali 
were also used for it. Poll. ix. 117. Comp. Athen, x. 444. The 
tesserae were just like our dice, the sides were numbered 1 to 6, and 
the two opposite sides always counted together, seven. [Isid. xviii. 
63; 64, 65.] Though four dice were required in the game of äa-pa- 
yciXoi, only three, and later two, tesserae were used. Hesych. : ^ 

rplg f| 7] Tptic Kvßoi, —apOLfxia Ittl tujv 8 7nrvyxav6vTu>v . [But Hesych. 

has misunderstood the proverb, for KvßoL here denotes the pips and 
not dice, as he goes on to say. It means, therefore, either three 
sixes or three aces, i. e. all or nothing.] Mart. xiv. 15, Tessera : 
Non sim talonim numero par tessera, dum sit 
Major, quam talis, alea ssepe mihi. 

We do not learn whether this game always depended upon turning 
up the most pips, or whether doublets counted extra, but the 
simple 7rXsL(TToßoXiv8a TraiZeiv was at any rate most common. The 
game with the tesserae was always played for money or something 
representing it, whilst the tali were used in other ways also. The 
manner of plapng it is related in Suet. Auff. 71, and Poll. ix. 95. 
That enormous sums were lost at play is seen from Juvenal, i. 89 : 

Nequo enim loculis comitantibus itur 
Ad casum tabulse ; posita sed luditur area. 
Prselia quanta illuc dispensatore videbis 
Armigero ! simplexne furor, sestertia centum 
Perdere et horrenti tunicam non reddere servo ? 

And hence all play for money was from an early period interdicted, 
with the single exception, vhi pro virtute certamenßt. Plaut. Mil. 
ii. 2, 9, mentions this law. No attention was paid to the complaints 
of persons who allowed gaming in their houses, not even in cases of 
robbery and actual violence. Paul Dig. xi. 5, 2. See an instance 
of condemnati de alea in Cic. Phil. ii. 23. This law, as may be 
easily imagined, was not only transgressed in private more than 
any other, but became null and void under some of the emperors, 
who were passionately devoted to play, as Claudius, who wrote a 
book upon gaming. By others, again, it was vigorously enforced ; 
this seems to have been the case with Domitian ; and. to this cir- 
cumstance Martial often alludes. The game was only allowed as a 
pastime during meals, as we see from Paul. Dig. xi. 5, 4; [Sidon. 



502 THE SOCIAL GAMES. [Excursus II. 

Ap. Ep, i. 2.] and during tlie SaUirnalia alone were all restrictions 
removed. Mart. xi. 6 : 

Unctis falciferi senis diebus 
Eegnator quibus imperat fritillus. 

V. 84. In tlie concealment of the popina it was doubtless fre- 
quently indulged in. Mart. iv. 14 : 

Dum blanda vagus alea December 
Incertis sonat hinc et hinc fritillis, 
Et ludit popa nequiore talc. 

Where perhaps by nequior talus loaded dice are meant : in Aristot. 
Problem, xvi. V2, we have ntnokvß^uiyLivovQ äarpayaXovQ. How much 
these games became the fashion at a later period is shewn by Jus- 
tinian's interdict, by which he allowed lost money to be demanded 
back. Cod. iii. 43. [De Pauw de alea veteriwi.'] Similar decrees 
were in force against betting, which^ however, we must not suppose 
to have been such a mania as is described by Bulwer^ in his Last 
Days of Pompeii. No bets were allowed upon games which were 
entirely of chance. Marcian. Dig. xi. 5, 3. 

Other games in which success did not depend on luck^ but in a 
great measure on skill, were not illegal. Foremost among these 
stand the board-games, two of which are known to have been in 
vogue at Rome, ludus latruncidorum, and duodecim scriptormn. 
Martial seems to have alluded to them (xiv. 17, Tabula lusoria) : 

Hie mihi bis seno numeratur tessera puncto ; 
Calculus hie gemino discolor hoste perit. 

The first line alludes to the duodecim scripta, the second to the 
latruncidi. The tabula lusoria appears to have been a table on either 
side of which one of these games could be played. 

The chief passage describing the first of these games is in Sal. 
Bassus, Paneg. in Pis. 180 : 

Callidiore modo tabula variatur aperta 
Calcidus et vitreo peraguntur milite bella, 
Et niveus nigros, nimc et niger alliget albos. 
Sed tibi quis non terga dedit ? quis te duce cessit 
Calculus ? aut quis non periturus perdidit hostem ? 
Mille modis acies tua dimicat : ille petentem 
Dum fugit, ipse rapit ; longo venit ille recessu 
Qui stetit in speculis : hie se committere rixse 
Audet et in prsedam venientem decipit hostem, 
Ancipites subit ille moras similisque ligato 
Obligat ipse duos : hie ad majora movetur, 
TJt citus et fracta prorumpat in agmina mandra. 
Clausaquse dejecto populetur moenia vallo. 
Interea sectis quamvis acerrima surgant 



Scene X.] THE SOCIAL GAMES. 503 

Proelia militibus, plena tarnen ipse phalange, 

Aut etiam pauco spoliata milite vincis, 

Et tibi captiva resonat manus utraque turba. 

See also Ovid, Art. Am. iii. 35, and T7'ist. ii. 477 : 
Discolor ut recto grassetur limite miles, 
Cum medius gemino calculus hoste perit. 
Comp. AH. Am. ii. 207. Pol. ix. 7 : Eustath, p. 1397. 

We learn from the above-named authors that the game was like 
our chess, or perhaps more of a besieging game ; for the mandrmy 
mentioned by Bassus, and of which Martial speaks (vii. 72), can 
only be stones which served as a kind of intrenchment. The calculi 
were probably of different values, longo venit ille recessu, qui stetit in 
specials ; and perhaps a piece of this kind may be compared to a 
bishop in chess. Such is the opinion of Isidor. Or ig. xviii. 67, 
calculi partim or dine moventur, partim vage. Ideo alios ordinarios^ 
alios vagos appellant. At vero, qui moveri omnino nan possuni, 
incitos dicunt. But we have no proof that they were of different 
shape. The mandrce perhaps differed from the latroties, as the 
calculi were also called latriinculi, milites, hellatores. They were 
generally made of glass, vitreo peraguntur milite hella, and vitreo 
latrone clausus. Also, Mart. xiv. 20. They were also made of more 
costly materials. 

The art of the player consisted either in taking his adversary's 
pieces, or rendering them unable to move. The first took place 
when he brought some of his adversary's pieces between two of his 
own, medium gemino calculus hoste pterit ; they also sacrificed a piece 
occasionally for the purpose of gaining some greater advantage. 
The second was called ligare^ aUigare, ohligare, and such pieces 
were said to be inciti, ciere being the proper expression for ' to 
move.' Plaut. Pcrni. iv. 286. Ad incitas redactus meant one who 
could make no other move. The fewer number of pieces lost the 
greater was the victory ; and we see from Senec. De Tranq. 14, 
what importance was attached to this. Ludehat (Canius) latrun- 
culis, cum centurio agmen pei-iturorum trahens et ilium quoque citari 
juhet. Vocatus tiumeravit calculos et sodali suo, Vide, inquit, ne post 
mortem meam mentiaris te vicisse. Turn annuens centurioni j Testis, 
inquit, eris, uno me antecedere. 

The ludus duodecim scriptorum appears to have somewhat re- 
sembled our backgammon ; see Salmas, and Boulenger, cap. 61 ; at 
least so far as the dice decide the move. Petron. 33. The board 
was marked with twelve lines on which the pieces moved. Ovid. 
Art. Am. iii. 363. Moving the pieces was called dare. Cic. inNou. 
ii. p. 170 : Itaque tibi concedo, quod in duodecim scriptis olim, ut 



IC 



504 THE SOCIAL GAMES. [Excursus II. 

calculum reducas, si te aliczy'us dati poenitet. Ovid. Ai't Am. ii. 203. 
Comp. Trist, ii. 475. Quinct. Inst. xi. 2. [Cic. de Or. ii. 50. Ter. 
Ad. iv. 7, 21.] This game does not appear to have borne any 
affinity to the TrerTela sttI TikvTs ypa[Xf.iwv of the Greeks^ which per- 
haps was more like that mentioned by Ovid, Trist, ii. 481. 

The cipTiadfxoQ^ apria^HV, clpria >) irtpiTvä TraiZ,Hv or e'nrCiv, ludere 
par impar, seems not to have been uncommon at Rome. Poll. ix. 7, 
101. Aristotle frequently mentions it, as Rhet. iii. 5, 4 ; De Divin. 
per somn. ; compare Meurs. p. 948, and Schneid, on Xenoph. de 
Off. mag. 5, 10. Among Roman authors, it is mentioned by Hor. 
Sat. ii. 3, 248 ; JVux. Eleg. 79 : 

Est etiam, par sit numerus, qiii dicat, an impar, 

Ut divinatas aiiferat angur opes. 

Suet. Aug. 71. The game consisted in one person guessing whether 
the pieces of money, or whatever it was that his adversary held in 
his hand, were odd or even ; it is represented in works of art, as, 
for instance, where a boy is pressing the hand containing his gains 
to his breast. See Boettig. Amalth. i. 175. The astragalizontes 
of Polycletus may, however, have been real dice-players. Aug2ist. 
t. 106. The game mentioned by Ovid, {Art. Am. iii. 361, pilm 
reticulo fusee) has been already noticed. 

Some speak of the Romans having adopted the Körraßoc, of 
which the Greeks were so passionately fond, and which is fully 
described by Athenseus, xv. See Jacob's Att. Mus. iii. 473. Not- 
withstanding the numerous modifications of this game, we can only 
assume two sorts of it. The first, when a person had to pour wine 
into a vessel without spilling any of it. The second was this : a 
balance was suspended, and under one of the scales a basin with 
water, and the enigmatical Manes, were placed in it : the wine was 
to be poured into the scale, so that it sank down into the basin, 
and touched the Manes. Still there is an entire absence of proof 
that this game got into vogue among the Romans. The passage in 
Plautus Trin. iv. 3, 4, is unquestionably a joke borrowed from Phi- 
lemon. See Becker's Cliaricles^ Eng. Trans, p. 265. 



EXCUESUS. SCENE XTL 



THE INTEEMENT OF THE DEAD. 

AMONG the most ceremonious obsei-vances of tlie Eomacs were 
tlie solemnities in honour of the dead. Instead of simply con- 
signing the corpse to the earth, such pomp and ceremonial had 
gradually got into vogue, that, though full of deep import in its 
promptings, yet in outward appearance, at least, it looked mere 
vain show ; nay more, nonsensical and ridiculous. 

The custom has been already illustrated very satisfactorily by 
Alex, ab Alex. Gen. dd. iii. 7 ; [by Meursius, Guther, Laurentius, 
Quensted in Gr(2v. Thes. and Gronov. Thes.'] ; more largely by 
Kirchmann, De funerihus Romanorum; also by Nieupoort, Ant. 
Rom. de ritu fimerum. See also Baehr's chapter on the subject, in 
Kreuzer's Ahriss., which is more useful still. 

The topic has been so often discussed, that the cbief points only 
will be mentioned here. 

The following passages from ancient authors are important. 
Virg. J^n. vi. 212, sqq. Tib. iii. 2. Prop. i. 17 ; ii. 3 ; iv. 7. Ovid. 
Trist, iii. 3. Petr. 71. Appul. Flor. iv. 19. Also particularly, 
Cic. de Legg. ii. 21. Polyb. vi. 53, 54 ; and Herodian, iv. 2. 

The scrupulous conscientiousness observed in discharging the 
funeral rites, was intimately connected with the religious notion 
concerning the future state ; but it is very probable that this belief 
was originated and fostered by prudential motives, to counteract, in 
less civilised times, the evil eifects which would have resulted from 
the neglect of sepulture. At a very early period the belief was 
rooted in people's minds, that the shades of the unburied wandered 
restlessly about, without gaining admittance into Hades ; so that 
non-burial came to be considered the most deplorable calamity that 
could befal one, and the discharge of this last service a most holy 
duty. This obligation was not restricted to relatives merely, and 
near connexions j it was performed towards strangers also ; and if 
one happened to meet with an unburied corpse, he at any rate ob- 
served the form of throwing earth thrice upon it. Hor. Od. i, 28, 22 : 

At tu, nanta, vagas ne parce malignus arense 

Ossibus et capiti inhumato 
Particulam dare : 



and then, 



licebic 
Injecto ter pulvere curras. 



506 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

[VaiTO, L. L. V. 23.] ; Petr. 114. And tMs was considered suffi- 
cient, as we see from Propert. iii. 7, 25 : 

Eeddite corpus humo, positaque in gurgite vita, 
Peetum sponte tua vilis arena tegas. 

Comp. Claud, in Rvßn, i. 371. 

The usage was rendered still more binding by a regulation that 
the heir, or family generally, a member of which had remained 
unburied, should yearly offer the propitiatory sacrifice of a 'porca 
pi'cecidanea, and not till then was the fmm'lia pura. Varro in Non. 
ii. p. 163 ; and for the explanation of the word, Paul. p. 223. 
The annual repetition is expressly mentioned by Marius Victor, 
p. 2470, Putsch. Comp. Cic. Zeff. ii. 22. And hence, in cases 
where the corpse was not obtainable, they held the exequies not- 
withstanding, and built an empty monument (eenotapkiuni), which 
was also done by the Greeks, as we know from Plato's Menexenus. 

As a duty binding upon everybody, the burial with its usages 
was called by the Romans justa, Justa face?'e, or ferre, also dehita 
(Hor. Od. ii. 6, 23), as among the Greeks rä ciKaia, v6f.ui.ia, voi.aZ,6- 
fieva, and in Plato's Menexenus, rd Trpoarjicovra. 

If not an universal, still it was not an uncommon habit, appa- 
rently, to give the dying a last kiss, in order to catch the parting 
breath. The passages from which this is inferred, are Cic. Verr. 
v.4o, Matres . . . ah ext7'emo complexu liheruin exclusce : quce nihil 
aliud 07'dbant, nisi ut ßliorum extremum spiritu7n ore excipcre sibi li- 
ceret; Virg. JEn. iv. 684, extremus si quis super halitus errat, ore legam. 

The same person, perhaps, closed the eyes of the departed, con- 
dere oculos (Ovid, Trist, iii. 3, 44), or premere, Ovid, -4m. iii. 9, 49. 
The assertion that the signet-ring was also immediately pulled 
off the finger, and put on it again at the funeral pile, seems totally 
groundless. The passage quoted in support of this notion (Plin. 
xxxi. 1, 6) alludes to the dishonesty of the slaves, who stole the 
rings from the finger. A second passage (Suet. Tih. 03) is also 
misunderstood. Spart. Hadr. 26, proves nothing -, neither can we 
deduce from Propert. iv. 7, 9, 

Et solitam digito beryllon adederat ignis, 

anything more than that the ring was burnt with the corpse, not 
that it was then first replaced on the finger. 

After this, those present called on the deceased by name, or set 
up a loud clamour and bewailing, for tlie purpose of recalling the 
person to life, if he should be only in a trance, condamahatur. Tlie 
chief passages thereon are Quinct. Decl. viii. 10 ; and Amm. Marc. 
XXX. 10 : Post eonclamata imperatoris suprema corpusque curatitm 



Scene XII.] INTEEMENT OF THE DEAD. 507 

ad sepultiiram. From wliicli we learn tliat tliis took place pre- 
vious to the curatura ; and hence also Ovid, Trist, iii. 3^ 43 : 
Nee mandata dabo, nee cum clamore supremo 
Labentes oculos condet amica manus. 
They then said conclamatum est, a formula also applied to other 
occurrences in life^ when no more hope remained. See Terent. 
Eun. iii. 56. The corpse was thereupon taken down from the bed, 
deponebatur. See Ovid, supra, v. 40 : 

Depositum nee me qui fleat uUus erit, 
and washed with hot water, perhaps to try to restore it to life. 
The funeral was next ordered of the lihitinarius. These people, 
who were named from Venus Libitina, in whose temple their ware- 
houses were situated, undertook to provide everything requisite for 
the interment. Plut. Qucest. Rom. 23, Aui ri ra izpoQ tuq rafag 
TTiTcpaaKovaiv iv r^ Aißirivrjg, vojiiCovteq 'AcppodiTiji' dvai rrjv AißiTivriv. 

The law required that they should have due notice of a death, and 
deceive a certain impost, just as when births were reported in the 
temple oi Juno Lueina. Dion. Halic. iv. 15. Suet. Ner. 39. Hence 

in Liv. xl. 19, Pestilentia in urhe tanta erat, ut Libitina tunc 

vix sufficeret. The lihitinarii furnished the pollinctores, vespillones, 
prcsßccs, and so forth — indeed, all that was necessary for either 
the humblest or grandest interment, at a certain rate of payment. 
The pollinctor, a slave of the libitinarius, next cared for the corpse. 
Ulp. Dig. xiv. iii. 5 ) Plaut. Asin. v. 2, 60. Ecquis currit, pollinc- 
toreni arcessere ? Mortuu' st Demcenetus, and Poen. Prol. 63. Their 
business was chiefly to anoint the dead, and to remove anything that 
might be calculated to create unpleasant impressions. Fulgentius, 
de Serm. ant. 3 : Dicti autem pollinctores quasi pollutorum unctores. 
Servius, on the contrary, (Virg. JEn. ix. 483), derives the word a 
polline, quo mortuis as oblhiebant, ne livor appareret exstincti. This 
being done, the corpse was clad in the garment suitable to his rank, 
but a free person always in the toga, even out of Rome, in the pro- 
vincial towns, where it was not generally worn in life. Juv. iii. 171 : 

Pars magna Italise est, si verum admittimus, in qua 

Nemo togam sumit, nisi mortuus. 

But of course its description was regulated by the position and pro- 
perty of the deceased. Magisterial persons, who wore the toga prce- 
texta, were always buried in it. Liv. xxxiv. 7. It is very uncertain 
whether viri triumphales were dressed in the tunica palmata, or toga 
picta. The passage from Suet. Ner. 50 : funer atus est stragulis albis 
auro intextis, quibus usus fuerat Kalendis Januariis, refers just as 
little to the dress, as do the purpurece vestes velamina nota, in Virg. 
^n. vi. 221. It is the torus Attalicus of Prop. ii. 13, 22. Still 



508 INTERME^^T OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

tlie waxen image lying on the coffin of Augustus, and representing 
his corpse, is thus attired. Dio Cass. Ivi. 34 : eiKojv Se St) ng avroii 

The custom, so prevalent in Greece, of putting a chaplet on the 
corpse, was not followed at Rome, at least not generally. The case 
was somewhat different, when the deceased had, while alive, gained 
a crown as the reward of merit. To this refer the words Cic. de 
Legg.\\.24L,coro7iam virtute partam . . . . lex impositarn juhet. The 
same applies to Plin. xxi. 3, and Cic. p. Flacco, 31. Nevertheless, 
the lechis and rogiis were adorned with leaves and flowers, as is seen 
from Dion. xi. 39 ; and Pliny mentions that flowers were strewed 
before the bier of Scipio Serapio, a thing which often happened. 
The business of the polUnctor being finished, the corpse was laid 
on a kind of bed-of-state, lectus fimehris, [unquestionably in the 
atrimn]. Kirchmann (i. 12) says the vestihidum, but he appears to 
misunderstand that term. Sueton., it is true, writes, (c. 100,) 
equesiei^ or do — intulit atque in vestihido domvs collocavit \ but the 
phrases ex csdibus efeiTi, efferri foras, shew that the corpse did not 
lie before the./aww«; besides, in that case, what need would there 
have been of the cypress outside, to shew that it was a domusfwiesta? 
On the situation of the corpse, see Plin. vii. 8 : Run naturcB capite 
hominem gigni mos est pedihus efferri. The usual opinion is, that a 
piece of coin wa's put in his hand, as a vavXov, on the shore of the 
Styx. But it may be doubted whether this was a regular Roman 
custom. The few passages where it is mentioned, as Juv. iii. 267 : 

Jam sedet in ripa tetrumque novicius horret 
Porthmea, nee sperat ccenosi gurgitis ahium 
Infehx, nee habet, quem porrigat ore trientem ; 

and Prop. iv. 11, 7 : 

Vota movent superos ; ubi portitor sera recepit, 
Obserat herbosos hirida porta rogos ; 

give no sufficient proof; for both the poets might very easily ac- 
commodate themselves to the foreign way of describing the thing, 
so often used by other poets. Virgil, in his description of the scene 
at the Stygian lake, mentions the mo/js inhumataque tvrha {JEn. vi. 
325), yet not a word about the passage-money, though he had such 
ample opportunity for so doing. Lastly, the coins discovered in 
urns at Pompeii are not a cogent proof of it. [Seyfiert, de Numis 
in ore defunct. re2^ertis.'] 

By the side of the ledus a censer was placed, accrra {turihulimi), 
Fest. Exc. p. 16; and near the house a pine or cypress was planted; 
partly as a symbol of the gloomy power who had irrevocably de- 
manded his victim ; partly as a warning sign to those who were 



Scene XII.] INTEEMENT OF THE DEAD. 509 

forbidden "by religious grounds to enter such a house. Plin. xvi. 
10, 18, ibid. 33, (ciipressus) : Diti sacra et ideofunehri signo addomos 
posita. Paul. p. 63. Serv. ad Virg. A^n. iii. 64 : Romani moris 
erat, ut potissimum cupressus, quce excisa renasci non solet, in vestihido 
mortui poneretur, ne quis imprudens rem divinam facturus introeat et 
quasi attaminatus suscepta peragere non possit. [iv. 507, yi. 216.] 
This warning was particularly for the priests, as Servius goes on to 
say : ne quisquam pontifex per ignorantiam pollueretur ingresstis. 
Scaliger concludes from Lucan (iii. 442), et non pleheios lectos testata 
cupressus, that the cypress, in earlier times a rare tree, was used 
only by the rich, or at grand funerals. The picea was, doubtless, 
substituted for it in other cases. 

According to Servius {ad ^n. v. 64), the corpse remained lying 
in state for seven days, and was then brought to the place of inter- 
ment, efferehatur. The accuracy of this statement has been already 
impugned by Kirchmann, at least, as regards the custom being a 
universal one. Indeed it is evident that, among the lower orders, 
such ceremoniousness could not have prevailed, and that they 
buried their dead with more simplicity and less delay, not being 
able to procure the preservative unguenta. 

A herald, prcBco, used to invite the people to be present at the 
celebration of any grand burial, where, for instance, public games 
formed part of the spectacle. This was Sifunus indictivum. Fest. 
Exc. p. 79 ; Cic. de Legg. ii. 24. The formula used by the prceco 
ran in full : Ollus Quiris leto datus est, exsequias (L. Titio, L.ßlio) 
ire cui cojnmodum est, jam tempus est ; ollus ex cedihus effertur. Varr. 
L. L. V. p. 160 ; comp. Fest. p. 217; Terent. Phorm. v. 9, 37 ; and 
Ovid, Amor, iii. 6, 1 : 

Psittacus Eois imitatrix ales ab Indis 
Occidit : exsequias ite frequenter aves. 

The funus publicum may be considered of like import with the 
funus indictivum, especially with reference to Tacit, iii. 4 ; but the 
distinction drawn by Festus : Simphidiarea funera sunt, quihus 
adhihentur ludi corhitoresque ; indictiva sunt, quihi9 adhihentur non 
ludi modo, sed etiam desultores, is uncertain. 

There are no fully decisive testimonies as to the time of day 
when the burial took place. We must suppose it to have varied at 
different periods, and according to circumstances. Servius {ad 
^n. xi. 143) says, that in more ancient times the funeral was at 
night, and he derives the woxdi funus irom. fimalia or faces, as ves- 
pillones from vespera. At a later period, however, this was only the 
case with the poor, who could not afford the expense of a solemn 
interment. Festus under Vespce, p. 158. But his remark does not 



510 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

prove so mucli as the epigram on the fat Gallus, who had fallen 
down in the street at night, and could not be raised to his feet 
again by the single slave that accompanied him. Mart. viii. 75 : 

Quatiior inscripti portabant vile cadaver, 

Accipit infelix qualia mille rogus. 
Hos comes invalidus submissa voce precatur, 

Ut qiiocunque velint, corpus inane ferant. 
Permutatnr onus, stipataqiie tollitur alte 
Grrandis in angnsta sarcina sandapila. 
See Dionys. iv. 20. 

But in the case of a solemn potnjja, and of course an indictimim, 
the ceremony took place by day : not before dawn, as some suppose, 
though therein they are contradicted by express testimonies ; (Cic. 
de Legg. ii. 26, 66, proves that the Roman and Attic customs were 
quite opposed to each other. Plutarch's words on the funeral of 
Sylla prove nothing,) but just at that time of the day when there 
was most stir in the streets, as Horace, in his picture of the bustle 
and excitement of the city, says, 

Tristia robustis luetantur funera planstris. 

This occurred in the forenoon, as is confirmed by the inscription 
cited by lürchmann, p. 83 : Mortuus est iii. K. Julias, hora x. elatus 
est hora ]i\. frequentia maxima. 

The ftinera itidictiva were not all celebrated with equal magni- 
ficence. The most splendid kind was the /?m?« censor-ium, not the 
interment of a censor, but graced with the distinctious proper to 
this person. Tacit. Ann. iv. 15, of Lucilius Longus, who had never 
been a censor, and (xiii. 2), Claudio censorium funus (decretum est). 
Jul. Cap. Pertin, 15. The author does not remember any account 
of wherein consisted this distinction. The words of Polyb. vi. 53, 
only refer to imagines. Age too made a difference. In the case 
of children, and of boys, till they assumed the toga virilis, fewer 
ceremonies took place. Such funerals were called acet^ba funera, 
i. e. immatura. Tib. 2, 6, 29 ; Hor. Sat. ii. 8, 59. Nero in Tacit. 
Ann. xiii. 17, respecting the burial of Germanicus. They were 
buried ad faces et cereos, and therefore, probably, in the evening. 
Senec. de Tranquil. 11 ; Hpist. 122. No decisive proof has been 
discovered by the author of torches, which belonged to the ancient 
practice of night-interment, having been kept up in the case of 
adult funerals. Passages like Propert. iv. 11, 46 : Viximus insignes 
inter utramque facem, refer to the torches with which the funeral 
pile was kindled. He had said before (v. 10) : 

Sic moestse cecinere tubse, cum subdita nostrum 
Detraheret lecto fax inimica caput. 



Scene XIL] INTEEMEXT OF THE DEAD. 511 

And thus are to be understood all similar passages, wliere the fax 
nuptialis is opposed to ihe feralis. We may here remark, that very 
young children were never burnt, but always inhumed. Juven. xy. 
139 flf. : 

Naturae imperio gemimns, cum funus adultee 
Virginis occurrit, vel terra clauditur infans 
Et minor igne rogi. 

Plin. TÜ. 16, 15. At a giand interment the procession was arranged 
by a designator, who was supported by a lictor and an accensus, 
or several lictors, for the purpose of maintaining order. Cic. de 
Legg. ii. 24 ; Hor. JEpist. i. 7, 5 : 

dum ficus prima calorque 
Designatorem decorat lictoribus atris. 

Donat. ad Ter. Ad. i. 2, 7. 

In front went the tihicines, the number of whom was limited bv 
the twelve tables, to ten ; or also more powerful music, cornua and 
tuhce. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 43, and Heindorf's remark. Something, 
perhaps, of the construction of these tuhce may be gained from Ovid. 
Amor. ii. 6, 6 : 

Horrida pro moestis lanietur pluma capillis, 
Pro longa resonent carmina vestra tubse ; 

unless it be only a general epithet. 

Then followed the prc^ßcce, female mourners, also furnished by 
the lihitinarius. Hor. Ai^t. 431 : 

Ut qui conducti moerent in funere, dicunt 

Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex auimo : sic 

Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur. 

It seems of no consequence whether we read quce conductcB in this 
passage or not, as the gender can be taken generally. See Paul. 
p. 223. [Varro, L. L. vii. 70.] They sang the menia, properly a 
wailing panegyric on the deceased. Plaut. True. ii. 6, 14 : 

Sine virtute argutum eivem mihi habeam pro praefica 
Quae alios collaudat, eapse se vero non potest. 

Just so Non. ii. p. 145 : Ncenia ineptum et inconditum carmen, quod 
adducta pretio mulier, quce prcefica diceretxir, mortids exhibei-et. These 
ncenicB were also named mortualia, and were accounted nugce. Plaut. 
Asin. iv. 1, 63 : Hcb sunt non nugce, non e7iim mortualia. The 
further signification of the word, by which it frequently comes to 
denote the end, does not belong here. 

Still stranger was the custom for mimito join in the procession 
perhaps next to the prceßcce, who not only indulged in sober reflec- 
tions, and applied passages from the tragedians to the present case, 



512 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. Excursus. 

"but actually formed, sometimes, an odd contrast to the rest of tlie 
pageantry of woe, by acting the part of regular merry-andrews, 
whilst one of the number, probably always the archimvmis, imitated 
the person of the defunct. The chief passages illustrative of this 
custom are in Dion. Hal. viii. 72 ; and Suet. Vesp. 19 : In funere 
Favo m'chimimus personam ejus f evens imitansqtie, ut est mos, facta 
et dicta vivi mterrogatis palatn p?'ocuratonbus, quantifunus et po^npa 
co7istaretj ut audiit li. S. centies, exclamavit : centum sihi sestertia 
darent, ac se vel in Tiberim projicerent. The artißces scenici at the 
funeral procession of Julius Csesar were of a soberer character, 
everything here being calculated for tragic effect and excitement. 
Another passage, which is quoted in support of the custom (Suet. 
Tib. 57), has nothing to do vdth it ; for the scurra evidently does 
not belong to the pompa, but is among the crowd of bystanders. 

These dancers and mimes were most likely followed by the 
imagines mqjortan. After many extraordinary- notions having been 
started on this subject, Eichstadt's Dissertt. de Imagg. Rom. has at 
length established beyond a doubt, that men resembling in size and 
figure the persons to be represented, placed these waxen masks 
before their faces, and marched along in front of the lectus, clad in 
the dress appropriate to each, with all the insignia appertaining ; 
whence also Hor. JEpod. viii. 2, Usto beata, funus atque imagines 
ducant triumphales tuum. Poly bins, too, speaks of it in terms im- 
possible to be mistaken, vi. 53. Thus the whole row of ancestors 
swept along, represented by living individuals in proper costume, 
in front of the corpse ; and this was not confined to those in direct 
ascent, but the collateral branches also sent their imagines to the 
cavalcade ; as is seen from Polybius. This is what Pliny, xxxv. 2, 
calls gentilitia funera. The spectacle was carried to greater length 
at the burial of Augustus. Dio Cass. Ivi. 34, Whether the ima- 
gines, as Polybius relates, were always driven in carriages may be 
doubted. Propert. says, ii. 13, 19 : 

Nee mea tunc longa spatietur imagine pompa : 

which word spatiari, the author never met with used of a person 
riding in a carriage. 

If the deceased had earned warlike renown, gained victories, 
conquered lands and towns, then doubtless, as in the case of a 
triumph, tabulcs were carried before him inscribed with his deeds. 
So Dion. Hal. (viii. 59) relates of Coriolanus, rrpb tiiq KXivrjg avrov 
(pepeaOai tccXtvcravreg Xdcpvpa re Kai CKvXa, Kai aredävovg, Kai ^vrjuag (hv 
äXt TToXf wv. Tacit. Ann. i. 8, of Augustus, ut . . . tituli, victarum ab 
eo gentium vocabida anteferrentur . . . censuei'e. These were most likely 



Scene XII.] INTEEMENT OF THE DEAD. 513 

carried in advance of the imagines, and tlie latter did not come after^ 
but preceded the corpse, as indeed was most natural, for tliey had 
preceded the deceased in death, and he completed their train. It 
is, moreover, expressly stated in Tacit, iii. 76, Vigititi clarissimarum 
familiarum imagines antelatce sunt. Propert. (ii. 13, 23) also men- 
tions pans of incense. Immediately after these came the funus 
itself, lying' a little raised upon a lectica or lectiis funehris, in the 
case of persons of distinction made of ivory, or at least with ivory 
feet. Over it purple or gold-embroidered coverlets were expanded, 
Attalicce vestes, on which lay the corpse. Dio Cass. Ivi. 34, of 
Augustus. 

According to Servius (ad Virg. ^n. vi. 222), the lectus was 
borne by the nearest relations, or by the slaves who had been made 
free by the will. Pers. iii. 106, At ilium hesterni capite indido mhiere 
Quirites ; and in the case of men of particular merit and renown, 
even by knights, senators, and magistrates. Now the latter cer- 
tainly did take place in some individual cases (see Kirchm. ii. 8), 
but it is doubtful whether the former was an universal custom. 
Velleius, it is true, relates it of Metellus (Macedonicus), i. 11, 7, 
Mortui ejus lectum pro rostris sustulei'mit quatiior ßlii, etc. ; and the 
same account is given by Pliny, Cicero, and Valerius Maximus, but 
they always adduce it as something particular. Plut. (Qucsst. Horn. 
14) says, rovg joveig tKKOfxi^ovaiv o\ fxev viol GvyKtKoKvjxukvaiQ^ at de 
BvyaTspeg yvixvaig raig KecpaXdig, but ticKoni'Ceiv, like efferi'e, is used of 
the interment generally. 

The lower classes, at least, made use of regular bearers, hired 
by the lihitinarius, vesperones or vespillones. Of course, at such a 
funus plebeium or taciturn, the pomp we have been describing was 
entirely omitted. Those who were poorer still, and slaves, were 
carried by the vesjnllones, to the place of interment, in a covered 
bier or coffin, sandapila. Fulgent, de Serm. Ant. 1. It is often 
mentioned by Martial, who also calls it (x, 5) orciniana sponda. 
This is also meant by Hor. Sat. i. 8, 9, cadavera vili portanda 
locabat in area. [Poor persons often belonged to burial-clubs 
(collegia tenuioru7n), which on the death of any sodalis advanced a 
certain sum towards the expenses of his funeral, funeraticium. 
(Orell. 4107.) Such were the Collegium Aisculapii et JIggics. 
OreU. 2417, the Coll. Jovis Cerneni; and the Coll. cuU. Dianes et 
Antinoi; the statutes of which were discovered on a stone-tablet at 
Lanuvium, in 1816. Mommsen, de Colleg. et Sodal. Bom.] 

As the images of his ancestry came before the lectus, so, after it, 
followed the heirs and relations of the deceased, also the freedmen, 
viz. those who had just been manumissi by the will, with their 

L L 



514 INTERMENT OP THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

hats on, to mark their acquired freedom, pileati, unless, as some 
suppose, the latter preceded the lectus. See Kirchm. ii. 7. Besides 
these, friends also and persons from the crowd attached themselves 
to the procession. Terent. Andr. i. 1, 88. But many only accom- 
panied the procession as far as the city-gate, where they left it. 
The shade of Cynthia charges Propertius with this, iv. 7, 29 : 

Si piguit portas ultra procedere ; at illud 
Jussisses, lectum lentius ire meiim. 

Not only the family were dressed in mourning, hut also the 
whole convoy, and even the lictors. Death itself being supposed 
to be muffled in black,/ifXajit-fn-Ao^ (Eurip. AJcest. 860), black was 
the colour of mourning from the earliest times. Iliad, xxiv. 94, 
So also of the Greeks generally. Eurip. FJicen. 295, a-e-XoQ (papiwv 
XevKojp, and 339. [Becker's Charicles, English translation, p. 295], 
and the custom was general among the Romans. Hence, Tacit. Ann. 
iii, 2, atrata plehes, and Juv. iii. 213, pullati proceres. x. 245. It 
is mentioned most definitely with respect to the women. See Varro, 
de Vit. p. R. [Dionys. viii. 62.] TibuU. i. 3, 6, moesti sinus, and iii. 
2,16: 

Ossa ineincta nigra Candida veste legant. 

It was not till under the Emperors that white garments were 
substituted for black ones, with the women. Plut. Qucsst. Rom. 
26 ; Stat. Silv. iii. 3, 3 : 

Hue vittata comam, niveoque insignis amictu, 

Mitibus exseqiiiis ades (Pietas). 

The reason may have been, as Kirchmann remarks, that white 
robes were, in common life, replaced more and more by coloured 
ones, so that to dress in white at that time was quite as much an 
abstinence from the usual garb, as formerly it was to appear in 
black or sombre habiliments. [Other exterior signs of mourning 
were, tearing the garments, especially among the women ; it is also 
mentioned of the men. Suet. Cces. 33 ; Ner. 42, veste discissa ; comp. 
Stat. Theh. iii. 125, ix. 354 ; also laying aside their ornaments. 
Liv. xxxiv. 7, Quid aliud in luctu, quam purpurayn atque aurum 
deponunt ? quid, quum eluxerunt, summit (muliei'es) ? Dionys. v. 48, 
viii. 62. Men let the hair of their head and beard grow; Suet. Oct. 
23, barba capilloque summisso ; Cses. 67 ; Liv. xxvii. 34, (but par- 
ticularly in luctus joithlicus,) and abstained from dinner-parties, the 
baths, and the theatre. Tac Ann. iii. 3 : Tiberius atque Augusta 
publico abstinuere. Cic. ad Att. xii. 13.] 

The procession went first to the forum, in front of the rostra, 
where the lectus was set down. Dion. Hal. iv. 40. [xi. 39.] Hence 



Scene XII.] INTEKMENT OF THE DEAD. 515 

also in Hor. Sat. i. 6, 43, concurrantque foro tria funera. Here tlie 
bearers of the imagines took their seats cellis curulihus. Polyb. yi. 
53, 9. Usually, one of the relations mounted the tribune, and pro- 
nounced the laudatio fwiebr is, \o-yoq kizncKtiioc, over the dead. The 
first person of whom this is related is Poplicola, who pronounced 
the laudatio on Brutus. Plut. 9. The custom, a genuine Roman 
one, was however perhaps of older date. Dion. Hal. v. 17. [ix. 64.] 
After the panegyric on the deceased was ended, the speaker went, 
in a similar manner, over all the forefathers, whose imagines were 
present, and recounted their individual merits. See Polyb. above. 
The author dwells on the political importance of these public recog- 
nitions of the merits, not of one individual only, but of a whole 
family. Still it is easy to conceive, that these laudationes did not 
always contain the truth, and that the speaker would paps over the 
dark side of his friend's character, whilst he described the brighter 
one in too glowing colours. Hence Cic. Brut. 16, His laudationibus 
historia rerum nostrarum est facta mendosior ; and Liv. viii. 40, 
Vitiatatn tnemoriam fimehrihus laudihus reor. 

The same honom- might be paid to women also, but only as a 
particular distinction. It took place first after the Gallic war. Liv. 
V. 50 : Matronis gratice actce, honosque additus, ut earum, sicut viro- 
rum, post mortem solemnis laudatio esset. Plutarch, Camill. 8. 
Latterly it must have ceased entirely, or occurred very rarely. Cic. 
de Orat. ii. 11. The knowledge even of the previous instances had 
been lost. 

After this solemnity, the lectus was again raised, the train got in 
motion in the same order as before, and directed its course to the 
place of interment. 

The custom of biuying is said to have been older than that of 
burning (Cic. de Legg. ii. 22), and there were certain families, 
which adhered to it down to a late period ; e. g. the patrician gens 
Cornelia. Sylla is said to have been the first of it, who caused 
himself to be consumed by fire. Plin. vii. 54 : vefritus talionem, 
eruto C. Marii cadavet'e. But, in reality, inhumation always took 
place, even in the case of biu-ning the body, for then, instead of 
the grave, the funeral- vault was substituted, in which was placed 
the cinerary. 

Both methods are distinguished in the twelve tables (Cic. 23) : 
Hominem tnortuum in Urhe nes epelito, neve urito. The two kinds 
of burial are placed in juxtaposition, and the crematio is expressly 
opposed to the sepultura, if Cicero's explanation be correct. Pliny, 
on the contrary, in the passage cited above, imderstands the matter 
differently, and perhaps more correctly, which is important, as he pro- 

L L '2 



516 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

l3ably had Cicero's passage before Ms eyes. He says : sepultus vero 
intelligatui' quoquo modo conditus, humatus vero humo contectus. The 
meaning of the law would therefore be, that no sort of burial might 
take place in the city, any more than burning might ; for this latter 
could happen, and still the corpse be consigned to a sepulchrum out- 
side the city. At an earlier period, it seems that the deceased was 
frequently buried in his own house. [Comp. Virg. ^n. iv. 494 : 
Tu secreta pyram tecto interiore sub auras Erige. 504. Serv. ad 
Virg. JEn. vi. 152, xi. 205.] Isid. Orig. xv. 11 : prius quisque in 
domo sua sepeliehatur, postea vetitum est legibus : a statement which 
must not be taken very generally; as they were most frequently 
buried in agro. Liv. vi. 36. 

Still, there were individual exceptions to this prohibition : e. g. 
whan a triumphator died. Plut. Qucsst. Rom. 79. [Dio Cass. xliv. 
7.] So also many families retained the right of burial in the city, 
on the strength of being descended from illustrious men. Cic. above. 
The vestal virgins also were an exception, and, afterwards, the 
Emperors. Indeed, the law seems to have often been transgressed, 
and hence the interdict required renewal. * 

A sepultura, therefore, always took place, even when the body 
had been burnt, and hence the word is used, in a general sense, for 
crematio also. See Drakenb. Liv. viii. 24. Thus also the Greeks 
distinguish between, and connect, Ka'uiv and Bäirrav. Dion. Hal. v. 
48, concerning Poplicola; Fest. Exc. 26; [Serv. ad Virg. JEn. xi. 
201, iii. 22] ; Stallb. ad Terent. Andr. i. 1, 101 ; Böttig. Vasengem, 
1.42. 

At no time were there universal burial-places for all classes. 
Whoever could afford it, selected or acquired a spot outside the city, 
in the most frequented situation, as on high-ways, and here a family- 
sepulchre was erected. The very lowest class only, viz. slaves and 
condemned criminals, had a common burial-ground on the Esqui- 
linus, up to the time of Augustus. Hor. Sat. i. 8, 10 : 

Hoc miserse plebi stabat commune sepulcrum, 
Pantolabo scurrse, Nomentanoque nepoti. 
Mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agriim 
Hie dabat : heredes monumentum ne sequeretur. 

See the verses following, and Heindorf's note. [But on the Esquili- 
nus families of note were also buried. Cic. Phil. ix. 7. Near it lay 
the larger piece of ground for the corpses of the poor and of the 
slaves, and this only was called] Puticul(2, {Puticoli, Putihiculi). 
The chief passage is in Varro, L. Z, v. 5 ; Fest. Exc. p. 118. What 
Festus really wrote can, in consequence of the mutilated state of 
the fragment, only be guessed at. There the corpses were either 



Scene XII.] INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. 517 

"burnt, without any further interment, or inhumed, or thrown down 
unburied. Of course it was not an universal burial-place for slaves, 
but only for the vilia mancipia. [In the municipia there were 
similar spots inopum funerihus destinatosJ] 

As burning the corpse came very early into use, the further 
ceremonies at the humatio are little known. The corpses were 
either consigned to the earth in coiSns, or placed in tombs built for 
the purpose. The more general names for the coffin, are area, 
[Orell. 4396 ; solium, Suet. Ner. 50 j Plin. xxxv. 12, 46] ; and in 
Fulgent, loculus ; the particular one, capulus. That this word does 
not mean a hiex, feretrum, has been sufficiently proved by Ouden- 
dorp ad Appul. Met. viii. p. 544, capulos carte et vetustate semitectos; 
and X. p. 690, cooperculo capuli remoto. These coffins were mostly 
of wood, but also at times of more costly materials j still the sarco- 
phagi, as they are called, — so named from the remarkable properties 
of the lapis sarcophagus (Plin. ii. 96, xxxvi. 17), though also con- 
structed of marble and other stone, — must be considered only as the 
outer receptacle of the coffin. [Orell. 194^ 4478 : corpus integrum 
conditum sarcophago. The coffins of the Scipios were of stone 
(peperino).'] 

Latterly, burning the corpse gradually fell into disuse, and hence 
the frequent mention of the coffins^ even as early as in Appuleius. 
See Macrobius, Sat. vii. 7. 

The pile on which the corpse was laid varied in height, and in 
decoration also, according to the pecuniary circumstances and con- 
dition of the defunct. The distinction which Serv. ad Virg. ^n. 
ix. 188, makes hetween pyra and rogus, — pgra est lignorum congeries, 
rogus cum jam ardere cceperit, is decidedly false, as is learnt from the 
ordinance of the twelve tables. Cic. de Legg. ii. 23 : rogum ascia ne 
2')olito. It is pure chance that Virgil first has constituere pyras, and 
then circum accensos decurrere rogos : the poet merely interchanges 
the words. 

On the other hand, when burnt down, the pile was called 
bustum, and the place of burning ustrina. The body was not always 
burnt where the monument stood, but sometimes it was. Orell. 
4383. [Dionys. viii. 59, 'e9a\pav kv r<^ avri^ x^p'nf)."] Around the 
pile cypress-trees were planted. Virg. ^n. yi. 216 : 

Ingentem struxere pyram : cui frondibus atris 
Intexunt latera, et ferales ante cupressos 
Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis : 

and thereon Servius. The corpse being placed on it, odores, i. e. 
tus, unguenta, liquores, were scattered, and garlands and locks of 



518 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

liair thrown upon it. Stat. Silv. ii. 1, 162. and more in detail, v. 
1, 210, f f. 

Quis carmine digno 
Exsequias et dona malse feralia pompse 
Perlegat? omne illie stipatiim examine longo 
Ver Arabum Cilicumque fluit floresqiie Sabsei, 
Indorumque arsura seges, prgeceptaque templis 
Tura, Palsestini simul Hebraeique liquores, 
Corycieeque comse, Cinyreaque germina. 

[Also comestibles, CatuU. lix. Vidistis ipso rapere de rogo coenam. 
Compare Ter. Eun. iii. 2, 28.] Tbis was done, however, not only 
by tbe family, but also by others, who had joined in the procession. 
See Kirchm. iii. 5. Previously to this, the dead person received 
another last kiss, if such passages as the following can be accounted 
a proof of it. Prop. ii. 13, 29 : 

Oscnlaque in gelidis ponas suprema labellis 
Cum dabitur Syrio mnnere plenus onyx. 
And Ovid, Amor. iii. 9, 53. 

After this, a loud lament was again set up, led by the prceßca 
(see Serv. above) ; Terent. Andr. i. 1, 102, In ignem imposita est, 
ßetur, where we can hardly suppose that a Greek custom only is 
alluded to. While these lamentations were going on, the nearest 
relations, or one of them, averting his face, lighted the pile. It 
probably consisted, not merely of large logs, but also of combustible 
materials, as pitch, and perhaps dried rushes. This seems meant 
by Martial (x. 97) : 

Dum levis arsura struitur Libitina papyro, 
Dum myrrham, et casiam flebilis uxor emit : 

imless, perhaps, a tomentum is to be understood. Pitch, however, 
is expressly named in an inscription adduced by Kirchmann. 

Concerning the gladiatorial exhibitions that sometimes took 
place during the burning, see Creuz, Ahr. p. 263, f f , where the 
following usages are also amply explained, and will not therefore 
be enlarged upon. 

After the pile was burnt to the ground, the glowing ashes were 
quenched. Virg. Mn. vi. 226, 

Postquam collapsi cineres et flamma quievit ; 
Eeliquias vino, et bibulam lavere favillam, 

is cited to shew that this was done with wine, and Stat. Silv. ii. 6, 
90, quod tibi Setia canos restinxit cineres. Both passages, however, 
might be referred to the besprinkling after the ossilegium. Tibull. 
iii. 2, 19. The words of Pliny (xiv. 12) contain a more forcible 
proof : Vino rogum ne respergito. It had, therefore, occurred, and 



I 



Scene XII.] INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. 519 

that during Pliny's time. Add to this Prop. iv. 1 , 34 : fracto husta 
piare cado. Perhaps TibiilhiS; too^ means nothing else ; and it was 
only in case of great extravagance that not merely the collected 
bones, but also the whole rogus, was besprinkled with wine. 

The other succeeding rites are nowhere better recounted than in 
the very passage of Tibullus cited above. 

Prsefatae ante meos manes animamque precatse, 

Perfusseque pias ante liquore manus, 
Pars quse sola mei restabit corporis, ossa 

Ineinctse nigra Candida veste legant ; 
Et primum annoso spargant collecta Lyeeo 

Mox etiam niveo fundere lacte parent. 

Post hsec carbaseis humorem tollere veils 

Atque in marmorea ponere sicca domo. 

nine, quas mittit dives Panchaia merces 

Eoique Arabes, pinguis et Assyria, 
Et nostri memores lacrymse fundantxir eodem ; 
Sic ego componi versus in ossa velim. 
The poet describes how he wished to be buried, after having been 
changed into ashes, by Nesera and her brother (v. 15, f f.). He 
also dictates the inscription for his monument. 

The exact order of things, as given by him, then, is this : First, 
the Manes of the defunct were to be invoked : then, they washed 
their hands, and gathered the bones into the lap of the mourning- 
robe. These were next sprinkled with wine, and, again, with milk, 
and then dried on a linen cloth. All sorts of perfumes were then 
mingled with the ashes. Ovid. Trist, iii. 3, 69 : 

Atque ea cum foliis et amomi pulvere misce, 
where hj foliis, perhaps nardiim is meant. Buschke ad Tihull. i. 
3, 7, has denied that perfumed liquids, unguetita, Kquores, were 
poured upon them. But there is no mistaking Ovid, Fast. iii. 561 : 

Mista bibuut molles lacrymis unguenta favillse. 
[and Pers. vi. 34, uj'nce ossa inodora dahit^. 

Bottles, filled with perfumes, were placed inside the tomb, which 
was besprinkled odoribus. These are the tear-flasks, or lacryma- 
tories, so often mentioned formerly, [Orell. 4832, teretes onyches fuci 
f/racilesque alahastri']. (See Böttig. Vaseng. i. p. 66.) The expres- 
sion for this consigning to the tomb were, condere and componere. 
TibuU. supra; Prop. ii. 2, 35, Tu mea coynpones ossa. Condere, 
however, is said properly of collecting into the urna, and componere 
of consigning to the monument. Ovid, Trist, iii. 3, 70 : 

Inque suburbano condita pone solo. 
Hence the buried were called conditi, compositi, siti. Cic, de 



520 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

Legg. ii. 22. [Sometimes one urn or coffin contained the remains 
of two persons, to indicate their affection, as in the case of hus- 
band and wife, or children. Consol. ad Liv. 162 : 

Quod licet hoc certe tumulo ponemur in uno. 
Miscebor cinerique cinis atque ossibus ossa. 

Orell. 2863, 4370, 4624.] The burial being now completed, the last 
farewell was bid to the deceased, in the well-known formulae : ave 
anima Candida ; terra tibi levis sit ; molliter cuhent ossa, and so forth ; 
and after those assembled had been purified by sprinkling with 
consecrated water (lustratio), and the Ilicit had been pronounced, 
they separated. Who performed these two rites is doubtful. See 
Servius ad Virg. ALn. vi. 216. 

For some questions of minor importance, as cutting off the 
finger of the corpse before burning, and the words of the twelve 
tables, Homini mortuo ne ossa legito, see Kirchm. iii. 7. 

[On the ninth day after the burial came the novemdialia oy ferice 
novemdiales, a sacrifice and funeral repast. Schol. ad Hor. epod. 
17, 48 J Serv. ad Virg. yEn. v. 64 ; Paul, and Fest. v. vinum vesper- 
sum, p. 262. It consisted of simple dishes; {p)ultes, partem, merum. 
August. Confess, vi. 2 ; ovum, Juv. v. 84 ; salt and so forth, Ov. 
Fast. ii. 628 : although he speaks of the Parentalia ; and was placed 
upon the grave. Jul. Obs. 112, co&na Deaposita a cane adesa ante- 
quam deliharetur. Plut. Crass. 36 ; Dio Cass. Ixvii. 9. It was called 
ccena feralis, Juv. v. 84 : 

Ponitur exigua feralis ccena patella. 
App. Florid. 4; Plin. x. 10, 28, ex funerum ferculis. See TertuU. 
de Test. an. 4 ; de Resurr. 1 ; August, de Civ. Dei, viii. 27 ; Lips, ad 
Tac. Ann. vi. 5. The proper Roman name for this meal was not 
silicernium, as is usually supposed ; for notwithstanding Donat. ad 
Ter. Ad. iv. 2, 48, ccenaque infertur diis manihus, yet Varro's autho- 
rity is decidedly against it. Non. i. 235 : Silicernium est proprium 
convivium funehre quod senibus exhibetur. Varro Meleagr. funus 
exsequiati laute ad sepidcnim antiquo moi'e silicernium confecimus, 
i.e. 7repi3ei7rvov quo pransi discedentes dicimus alius alii vale. It 
appears then from Varro that silicernium was the old-fashioned 
meal, taken near the grave, (hence Servius ad Virg. ^n. v. 92, 
derives it from siliccenium, i. e. a meal near the grave-stone), for 
which purpose triclinia and halls were sometimes built in the 
vicinity of the monument, as in that of Naevoleia Tyche at Pompeii. 
It differed from the ceena funeris, Pers. v. 33, which took place in 
the house of the deceased. In rich families a great number of 
guests were invited ; sometimes the whole people : (Cic. p. Miir. 



Scene XII.] INTEEMENT OF THE DEAD. 521 

86), or they received a visceratio, or distribution of meat. Liv. viii. 
22, xxxix. 46 ; Suet. Cces. ; Sen. Up. 73, Later, money was given 
instead, thougli tlie name visceratio remained. Orell. 134, 3858. 
Games and shews of gladiators often attended this feast. Liv. xli. 
28; Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 85; Dionys. v. 17; Dio Cass, xxxviii. 8, xxxix. 
7, xliii. 22. 

Long after the funeral they testified pious affection for the 
deceased in various ways. The Feralia held in February was a 
general festival in memory of the dead ; also called Parentalia, 
in reference to the relations of the deceased. Varro, L. L. ii. 13 : 
Feralia ah inferis et ferendo, quod ferunt tum epidas ad sepulcrum 
quihus jus ibi parentare. Paul. p. 85 ; Macrob. Sat. i. 9 ; Ovid, 
Amor. i. 13, 3 : 

Annua solenni csede parentat ovis. 
Comp. Cic. de Legg. ii. 21 : hostia maxima (i. e. the sheep. Paul, 
p. 126) ; parentare, Phil. i. 6 ; Ter. de Resur. c. 2 ; Testim. an. 4: ; 
Ov. Fast. ii. 533 ; Auson. Parent, prcef. Victims were likewise 
sacrificed, and food placed on the grave ; which was adorned with 
garlands, and sprinkled with essences (profusiones), also with milk, 
oil, honey. Orell. 642, 4415. Lamps (see p. 310) and other vessels 
were put on it. Prop. iv. 5. 72 : curto vetus amphora collo. Cic. de 
Legg. 26. These are the solennia dona or munera. Ov. Fast. ii. 
545; Catull. c: 

Tradita sunt tristes munera ad inferias. 

But all this might be done at any other time as well as at the 
Feralia ; hence parentare is used generally for inferias mittere. 
Orell. 642. Mention is often made of commemorative banquets, 
in most extravagant style. Cic. p. Flacc. 38 ; Hor, Sat. ii. 3, 86, 
243; Orell. 3999, 4417. On the chaplets, see Orell. 707 : rosas ad 
monumentum deferre. 3927, 4084, 4420. Posce and esece, i.e. those 
set on the grave, are often mentioned together. Beans were a 
standing dish. Plin, xviii. 12, 30, parentando utique assumitur (faba). 
Funds were often bequeathed by the deceased for providing esccE 
and ros(S on the other days, besides at the Parentalia, Orell, 
3927, 4084, 4107 ; for instance, on the anniversary of his birth-day. 
Some beautiful sepulchre-garlands of gold have been found at 
Egnatia.] 

The urncB [or ollce, Orell, 4507, 4538 ; ollce ossuaries, 4544 ; olla- 
ria, 4544 ; schola ollarum, 4542 ; hydria, 4546 ; vascellum, 4555], in 
which the bones were preserved, were of various shapes and 
materials, mostly testce. Propert, says (ii. 13, 32) : accipiat manes 
parvtda testa meos : [but they were also of stone and metal ; so of 



522 INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. [Excursus. 

porphyry, Dio Cass. Ixxvi. 15 ; rarely of gold and silver. Eutrop. 
yiii. 5 ; Amm, Marc. xix. 2]. Glass ones have been also found at 
Pompeii, inclosed in others of lead. The nature of the tombs, both 
as regards external form and interior arrangements, is known from 
numerous monuments still extant. See Goro von Agyagf. Wand. 
d. Fompeii : the plan and view of the street of tombs, the ground- 
plan and section of the tomb of Nsevoleia Tyche, and other monu- 
ments.^ 

One of the most instructive passages, respecting the environs, 
and means of protecting the monument, apart from its absurdities, 
is to be found in Petron. 71, 16 : Ut sint in fronte pedes centum, in 
agrum pedes ducenti. Omne genus etiam pomorum volo sint circa 
cineres meos et vinearum largiter. Valde enimfalsum est, vivo quidem 
domos cultas esse, non cwai^i eas, uhi diutius habitandu7n est, et ideo 
ante omnia adjici volo : 'Hoc monumentum heredem non sequatur. 
Cetei'um erit mihi cures, ut testamento caveam, ne mortuus injuriam 
accipiam ; presponam enim unum ex libertis sepulcro meo custodies 
causcB. [Orell. 4781.] Among the ornaments which Trimalchio 
orders from the lapidarius, are also, naves plenis veils euntes, and 
such allegorical reliefs have actually been found on cippi. See 
Goro, t. 6. The tombs were generally protected by a ring-wall. 
Imaceria'] as that of Nsevoleia Tyche. [Orell. 4373, 4498, 4509.] 
In the interior, i.e. the proper cinerarium or ossiiarium, stood the 
urns in niches, [loculi, loculamenta, lecti, solia. Orelli, 4428. But 
these terms also denote larger niches to contain the whole corpse], 
whence also the whole receptacle obtained the name of columha- 
7'ium. [Orell, 4544, 4358, 4513.] Beside them were placed lamps, 
lucernce sepidclirales, and the above-mentioned lacrymatories. On 
the cippus was always the inscription, titidus. Ovid, iii, 3, 77. 
[Orell. 4409, 4424. An immense number of Roman sepulchral 
monuments have been preserved. On many of them there are 
interesting inscriptions, and bas-reliefs, indicating the name, rank, 
and family of the deceased. So the monument of the baker, M. 
Verg. Eurys. ', or of Cornel. Successus, who was soldier and butcher. 
The most interesting inscriptions have been collected by Orelli, 
cap. XX. 4351-4871.] 

The proper name for such a funeral-monument is monumentum, 
only that it can also be erected, for form's sake only, as a cenota- 
pliium. Cic. pro Sexto, 67 : i. Opiinius . . . cujus mo7iumentum cele- 
berritnum in foro, sepulcruyn desertissimum in litore DyrrliacMno 



These are given in Grell's Pompeiana. 



Scene XII.] INTERMENT OF THE DEAD. 523 

relictum est. [By tlie word monmnentum he does not mean cenota- 
phiwn, but tlie basilica opimia, or tlie Temple of Concord. Halm. 
ad Ciceron. ib. 310.] Thus the beautiful monument of Calventius 
at Pompeii is a cenotapMuyn, without ossuai'ium. [Lamprid. Sev. 
Alex. 63; Cenotaphium in Gallia, Romce sepulcrum. But cenotu- 
phium was also the name of the monument erected by a person 
during his life. Orell. 4519, 4526, dotnum ceternani sihi vivus 
curavit. Ulp. Dig. xi. 7, 6.] On other occasions, the names 
sepulchrum, husüün, and even tumulus, are frequently used as 
synonymes. 

These observations must suffice, respecting this very voluminous 
subject. 

[Hitherto no work has been written, thoroughly examining this 
topic in a religious and civil point of view : though much on that 
head is to be found in Kirchmann's work; Gothofred. on Cod. 
and Dirksen, Hist. Script. Aug. 169.] 



INDEX 



Abaci, 111, w. 4; 190, 295 

AboUa, 422 

Acerra, 508 

Acetabulum, 479 

Acipenser, 460 

'AjcpodfxaTa, 470 

Acta diurna, 134, n. 1 ; 185 

Actor in the familv, 204 

Adversitores, 214 

Agar Falernus, 57, n. 1 

Ahenum, 298 

Alabastrum, 305 

Alse (in the House), 253 

Alea, 499 

Alec, 462 

Alveus, 388 

Alveus, a dice-table, 500 

Ambulatio, 405 

Arnica, 169 

Amiculum, 437 

Amphorae, 479, 488 

Ampulla, 305 

Anagnostee, 208 

Annulus pronubus, 170 

Antae, 240 

Anteambulones, 213 

Antepagmenta, 240 

Antiquarii, 324 

A pedibus pueri, 215 

Apodyterium, 383 

Apophoreta, 468 

Apotheca, 489 

Apotheea triclinii, 265 

Aquarii, 362 

Aquiminarium, 306 

Arabia, 144, n. 5 

Area, 106, n. 8 ; 297 

Area (coffins), 517 

Arcarii, 298 

Archetypa, 17, n. 6 

Argentum purum et cselatum, 301 



Armarium, 106, n. 8; 297, 323 

Arm-bands, 441 

Armillse, 441 

Aricia, 50 

Arra, 170 

Asellus, 459 

Ashes of the dead mixed with scents, 
519 

As seres, 343 

Athens, the place of education of 
young Eomans, 197 

Atramentum librarium, 326 

Atriensis, 205 

Atriolum, 253 

Atrium, 242 

Aurata, 459 

Aureus, 74, n. 9 

Auspices at the celebration of mar- 
riage, 163 

Authepsa, 298 

Baiee, 85 ; its springs, 86, w. 4 ; luxury 

indulged in there, 88 
BdAavos, 282 
BaUon, 399 

Ball-play, 398; different kinds of, 399 
Balneum distinct from Thermae, 389 
Baptisterium, 375, 385 
Basterna, 349 
Bathing utensils, 393 
Baths, 366 

of Campania andEtruria, 90 

at Baise, 92, w. 12 

at Pompeii, plan of, 369 

• at Stabise, plan of, 370 

for women, 395 

public baths at Eome, 391 

libraries in the baths, 390 

time of bathing, 396 

lodgings over the baths, 92, 



w. 12 



526 



INDEX. 



Baths of Nero, painting of a section 

of, 384 
Beards, 428 
Beggars, 50, n. 20 
Bellaria, 457 
BeUus homo, 24 
Bene tibi, 132, 7^. 11 
Betrothing in marriage, 170 
Bibere in Incem, 2, n. 2 
Bibere nomen, 131, w. 10 
BibHopolge, 209, 334 
Bibliothecse, 323 
Bifores, 281 

Birthday, celebration of, 78, n. 15 
Boar, coenas caput, 463 
Books, 324 
Booksellers, 334 
Botularii, 465 
Botuli, 464 
Bovin«, 50 
BraccEe, 423 
Branding of slaves, 222 
Brassica, 465 
Bread, 467 
Bulla aurea, 183 
Burning the corpse, 515 
Burial-places, 516 
Bustum, 517 
Byssus, 444 

Cacabus, 298 

Cadus, 479, 488 

Cffilatura, 301 

Cselibes, 176 

Calamistrum, 440 

Calamus, 332 

Calceare, 375 

Calceus, 424 

Calculator, 191 

Calculi, 190 

Calda, 493 

Caldarium in the baths, 386 ; a vessel 

used in preparing the calda, 494 
Calices, 482 
Caliga, 427 
Camerse, 275 
Camillus et Camilla, 166 
Camoense, grove of the, 41 
Campania, the springs of, 90, n. 8 



Candelabra, 309 

— of what materials they 

were made, 312 

from ^gina and Taren - 

tum, 313 

in the form of trees, &c., 

314 

Candelse, 308 

Canis, at dice, 500 

Cantharus, 481 

Capis, 481 

Capitium, 417 

Capo, 462 

Capsse, 332 

Capsarii, their different employ- 
ments, 214, 333 ; in the baths, 93, 
w. 14; 373 

Capsus, 349 

Capulus, 517 

Carbasus, 444 

Caringe, 71, w. 3 

Carpentum, 346 

Carptor, 469 

Carriages, 341 

Carruca, 348 

Cartibulum, 289 

Caryotse, 466 

Castra lecticariorum, 344 

Castrare vinum, 491 

Catellse, 440 

Catenata taberna, 46, n. 9 

Cathedra, 292 

Catini, 479 

Caupo, 352 

Caupona, 355 

Causia, 423 

Cave canem, 242 

Cavum aedium, 242, 257 

Cedrus, 328 

Ceilings, 275 

Celibacy, 176 

Cellse penarise, 265 

Cellse servorum, 59, n. 4 ; ^b, n. 18 ; 
264 

Cellse vinariae, 58, n. 4 ; 487 

Cella frigidaria, in the baths, 385 

Cellarius, 205 

Cenotaplmim, 506, 522 

Cerevisia, 485 



INDEX. 



527 



Ceroma, 378 

Chapel, 263 

Chaplets, 496 

Charistia, 226 

Chartse epistolares, 339 

Chests, 297 

Chüdren, 178 

Chh-urgi, 208 

Chrysendeta, 302 

Cicer, 466 

Cinerarium, 522 

CiBiflones, 217, 440 

Cippi, 522 

Circuli, 406 

Cisium, 346 

CisteUffi, 298 

Citrese, 295 

Citrus, 294 

Clathri, 277 

Clavis, 292 

Claris Laconica, 283 

Clavus latus, or angustus, 417 

Cleaning, implements for, 307 

Clepsydrse, 318 

Clients, 227 

Clipeus, 387 

Clocks, 315 

Coeeum, 446 

Cochleae, 461 

Cochlear, 477 

Cocula, 298 

Codicilli, 338 

Coemtio, 167 

Ccena, 455 

nuptialis, 165 

pontificalis, 458 

recta, 457 

Trimalchionis, 110, n.l 

feralis, 520 

Coenaculirm, 5, w. 8; 267 
Ccenare de die, 456 

Ccenare in ducem, 2, 7i. 2; 456 
Colum, 299, 489 
Columbarium, 522 
Comissatio, 124, w. 1 
Compagus, 427 
Compedes, 221 
Compluvium, 257 
Conclamatio, 506 



Coneubinatus, 169 

Condere oculos, 506 

Confarreatio, 157 

Congius, 479 

Conopium, 306 

Conserva, 220 

Construetio (of books), 329 

Contubernium of the slaves, 220 

Convenire in manum, 156, 167, 168 

Conviyia tempestiva, 456 

Cooking utensils, 298 

Copta, Copta placenta, 468 

Coquina, 264 

Corinthian brass, 18, n. 9 

Cornua, 511 

Cornua of the books, 328 

Coronae, 496 

Corona convivialis, 497 

Cors of a villa, 60, n. 5 

Cortina, 298 

Cosmetse, male slaves, 217 

Covinus, 347 

Crater, 483 

Craticula, 299 

Crematio, 516 

Crepidse, 427 

Crepundia, 183 

Cribrum, 299 

Crucifixion of slaves, 223 

Crusta, 302 

Crustse, 302 

Crystallina, 302 

Cuba, 184 

Cubicularii, 212 

Cubicula, 260 

Cubital, 424 

Cucullus, 423 

Cucuma, 298 

Culcita, 286 

Culina, 264 

Cumerus, 160 

Cunina, 183 

Cupa, 487 

Cupboards, 297 

Cursores, 213 

Curtains, 252, 276, 306 

Cyathus, 479 

Cybium, 459 

Cymbium, 483 



528 



INDEX. 



Cypress before the domus funesta, 
Ö08 ; round the funeral pile, 517 

Dactyliothecse, 430 

Datatim ludere, 400 

Day, divisions of the, 314 

Dead, interment of, 505 

Decurise of slaves, 203 

Decurio, 206 

Deductio of the bride, 160 

Defrutum, 486 

Delicise of the ladies, 25, w. 16 

Delphicse (marble tables). 111, m. 4 

Demensum of the slaves, 218 

Designator funeris, 511 

Diseta, 262 

Diapasmata, 378 

Diatreta (diatreti calices), 304 

Diffareatio, 175 

DifFundere vinum, 487 

Diseidium, 175 

Dispensator, 204 

Diversorium, or derersorium, 353 

Divortium, 175 

Dolabra, 1, n. 1 

Dolia, 486 

Dominium, 178 

Domo interdicere, 101, w, 3 

Domus, as opposed to insula, 231 

Doors, manner of fastening the, 281 

Dormitoria, 260 

Dress of the men, 409 

women, 431 

Drinks, 485 
Duleiarius, 468 

Ear-rings, 441 
Echinus, 461, 484 
Education, 183 
Edusa, 183 
Elgeothesia, 379 
Emancipatio, 181 
Emblemata, 302 
Endromis, 422 
Epichysis, 305, 480 
Epideipnides, 457 
Epistolse, 338 

Ergastulum, 221; under ground, 59, 
n. 4 



Eruca, 466 

Essedum, 346 

Etruria, the springs of, 90, ^.8 

Exedrse, 262 

Expidsim ludere, 400 

Faces nuptiales, 160, 163 

Familia, its meaning, 151, 154, 198 ; 

rustica and urbana, 202 
Famuli, 199 
Farreum (libum), at the confarrea- 

tio, 163 
Fartor, criTevT'fjs, 469 
Fasciae, 286, 424, 432 
Fatua, 460 
Fatui, moriones, 210 
Fauces, in the house, 256 
Feet, coverings of, 424, 438 
Fenestrse, 276 
Feralia, 521 

Fercula of the ccena, 456 
Ferise novemdiales, 520 
Feronia, temple of, 55 
Fibula, 433 
Fire and water, ceremony of, at the 

marriage, 162 
Fires in Rome, 1, n. 1 
Fish, 459 
Flabella, 438 
Flamingo, 468 
Flammeum of the bride, 165 
Floors, 270 
Focalia, 424 
Follis, 399 
Fores, 240 
Formiae, 56 
ForuH, 323 
Forum Appii, 52 
Frigidarium in the baths, 385 
Fritillus, 498 
Frontes of the books, 329 
Fulcra, 290 
Fullones, 448 
Funales, 349 
Funalia, 309 
Funambuli, 210 
Fundi, 56 
Fungi, 466 
Funiculus, 308 



INDEX. 



529 



Fumis, publicum, 509 ; indictivum, 
510; censorium, 510 ; acerbum, 510 

Furca, carrying the, punishment of 
slayes, 223 

Galeola, 483 

Gallus, biographical notice of, 6, n. 8 

G-ames, social, 499 

Graneum, 355 

Gardens, 358 

Garum, 461 

Gausapa, 295, 419, 443 

Geminae frontes of the books, 329 

Gestatio, 361 

Glass, 303, 373 

Glutinatores, 329 

Gnomon, 318 

Gobius, 459 

Grabatus, 291 

Grseco more bibere, 128, n. 6; 130, 

n. 9 
Grassatores, 54, n.2^ 
Green-houses, 363 
Gustus, gustatio, gustatorium, 456 
Gutturnium, 306 
Guttus, 305, 480 
Gymnastic exercises, 399 

Hair, 428, 439 

Halteres, 404 

Haipastum, 403 

Hats, 423 

Head, coverings for the, 423 

Heredipetse, 74, n. 8 

Hexaclinon, 108, n.ll; 474 

Hexaphoron, 344 

Hippodromus, 361 

Holoserica, 442 

Honey, the best and worst kinds of, 

467 
Horarium, 320 
Horologia solaria, 318 
Horologium, 320 
Hortulanus, 359 
Hospites, 226 
Household utensils, 285 
House, the Eoman, 230 
Humatio, 517 
Hydromeli, 484 



Hypocaustum, 278 
Hypogsea, 267 

latraliptse, 208 

Illumination of towns, 81, n. 19 

Imagines majorum, 15, 511 

clypeatse, 16, w. 4 

Imbrices, 269 
Imitatio ruris, 67, n. 21 
Impluvium, 64, n. 13; 2o7 
Incitega, 484 
Indumentum, 437 
Indusium or intusium, 416 
Infidibula, 299 
Inns, 351 
Instita, 433 
Instrumentum, 285 
Insulse, 5, 71. 8 ; 232 
Interjungere, 51, w. 22 
Interula, 432 
'iTTUoXeßrjs, 382 

Janitor, 211 

Janitrix, 211 

Janua, 240 

Jecur anseris, 462 

Jentaculum, 452 

Jugum, 164 

Jus lati clavi, 105, w. 5 

Jus osculi, 226 

Justa facere, 506 

Jus trium liberorum, 177 

Kitchen, 264 
KJttojSos, 504 : 

Labrum, 306, 388 

Lacerna, 420, 444 

Lacertus, 459 

Laconicum, 386 

Lacrymatories, 519 

Lactarius, 469 

Lactuca, 456, 465 

Lacunaria, 275 

L^ena, 422 

Lampadaria, 313 

Lamps, lueernse, 309 ; triclinares and 
cubiculares, 310; polymixi, 310; se- 
pulcrales. 3 1 0, 52 1 ; in the baths, 372 



M M 



530 



INDEX. 



Lances, 479 

Lanipendia, 448 

Lapis specularis, 277, 342 

Laquearii, 275 

Larariiitn, 263 

Lar vialis, 49 

Lasamim, 298 

Laternse, 314 

Laternarii, lampadarii, 215 

Latrina, 265 

Laudatio funebris, 515 

Layatrina, 389 

Lebes, 298, 306 

Lectica, 34|^aperta, 342; with win- 
dows and sbiitters, 342 ; when it 
first came into fashion, 345 ; fune- 
bris, 513 

Lecticarii, 213 

Lecti triclinares, summus, medins, 
imus, rank of the places upon 
them, 470 

Lectores, 208 

Lectus, 285 

Lectus, genialis or adversus, 247 ; 
cubicularis, 290 ; lucnbratorius, 
291 ; funebris, 508 

Legs, coverings of the, 423 

Legumina, 452 

Lentiscus, 122, n. 20 

Lepesta, 483 

Lepus, 465 

Letter, 338 

Levana, 183 

Lex Oppia, 345 

Libation, 132, %. 12 

Liberalia, 197 

Libitinarius, 507 

Librarii, 209; for the library, 324; 
a studiis, 32, n.4; ad manum or ab 
epistolis, 339; as bookbinders, 331 ; 
as booksellers, 335 

Library, 322 

Libri, 325 

Libripens, 71, w. 4 

Licinus, 71, n.2 

Licita consuetudo, 169 

Lighting, manner of, 308 

Ligula, 478 

Limen, 240 



Linen, 443 
Linosterna, 444 
Lintea, 395 
Linum, 444 
Literati, 208 
Lixivium, 449 
Loculi, 298 
Lomentum, 379 
Lora, 486 
Lueernse, 309 

Lucrine lake, pleasure parties there- 
on, 95; oysters therefrom, 461 
Lucus Camcenarum, 41, n.2 
Ludere par impar, 504 
Ludi magistri, 191 
Ludiones, 210 
Ludus duodecim scriptorum, 502 

latrunculorum, 502 

Lunula, 426 
Lupanaria, 91 
Lupus, 459 
Lustratio, 183 

of the corpse, 520 

Lychnuchi, 309 

pensiles, 314 

Lycoris, 83, n. 24 

Mseniana, 268 

Magister convivii, 126, n. 2 

Malluvium, 306 

Mamillare, 432 

Manalis, 306 

Mancipia viliora, 201 

Mandrse, 303 

Mango, 200 

Manni, small horses, 350 • 

Mantelia, 476 

Manus, in manum esse, 156 

Mappse, 476 

Marble, the different kinds of, 16, 

n. 5 
Marriage among the Romans, 155 
Matella, 300 
Materfamilias, 168 
Matrimonium justum et non justum, 

155 
Matrona, 168 
Meals, 451 
Mediastini, 215 



IKDEX. 



531 



Medici, 207; their estimation among 
the Eomans, 207; ab oculis, etc. 
208 

Melimela, 364 

Membrana, 326, 329 

Men, dress of the, 409 

Mena, 459 

Mensse citreae, 294 

laniarise, 296 

secundse, 456 

Meracius bibere, 129, n. 7 

Merenda, 454 

Merum bibere, 129, n, 7 

Miliarium, 298 

Mimi, 210; at funerals, 511 

Minerval, 195 

Minium, 15, w. 2; 327 

Minturnse, 56 

Mirrors, 296 

Mi crew fjLvdfxova auyUTrorav, 4, w. 4 

Mistarium, 483 

Mitra, 440 

Mixing of the wine, 28, n. 7 

Molge, 265 

Monilia, 440 

Monopodia, 294 

Monumentum, 522 

Moriones, 210, 470 

Mosaic work, 271 

Moss in the impluvium, 64, w. 13 

Mugilis, 459 

Mullens, 427 

MuUus, 459 

Mulsum, 457, 493 

Mursena, 459 

Murex, 460 

Muria, 461 

Murrhina vases, 304 

Musivum, 271 

Mustum calcatum, 486 

Nsenia, 511 
Nani, 210 
Nanus, 300 
Nardinum, 378 
Nassiterna, 306 
Necklaces, 441 
Negotiatores, 206 
Night, its dirisions, 314 



Nitrum, 449 

Nodus, 439 

Nomenclator, 212 

Nomina bibere, 131, n. 10 

Notarii, 33, n. 4 

Novemdialia, 520 

Numidse, 213 

Numidian hens, 60, n. 6 

Nuncii, 215 

Nundina, a Groddess, 183 

Nundinae, days of the lustratio and 

ovofiadeaia, 183 
Nuptiae, 159 
Nutrices, 189 

Obiees pessuli, 282 
Obsonator, 469 
Octophoron, 344 
Ocularii, 208 
Odores on the corpse, 517 
CEci, 261 
(Enophorus, 488 
Olera, 452 
Olives, 365, 467 
OUa, 298 
Olus, 466 
'OvofxaQeffia, 183 
Opisthographa, 328 
Opus sectile, 271 
Orbes citrei, 474 
Orcee, 488 
Ordinarii, 204 
Ornatrices, 216 
Ossilegium, 518 
Ostiarius, 2, 211 
Ostium, 240 
Ostrese, 460 

Pacta, 171 
Paedagogi, 188 
Paenula, 418 
Paganica, 399 
Palaestra, 405 
Palimpsestus, 328 
Palla, 434 
Palumbi, 62, n. 10 
Palus, 404 
Papyrus, 325 
Paragaudae, 446 



532 



INDEX. 



Parasitae, 211 


Plumatae vestes, 288 


Parcliment, 326 


Plutens, 291 


Parentalia, 521 


Pocillatores, 470 


Par impar ludere, 504 


Pocula grammatica, 483 


Paropsides, 479 


Podia, 267 


Passer, 459 


Pollinctor, 507 


Pastüli, 468 


Polubrum, 306 


Patagium, 435 


Pompa, 510 


Paterae, 481 


Pompeii, description of the baths of. 


Paterfarailias, 153 


369 


Patibulum, 223, 281 


Popina, 354 


Patina, 299, 461, 479 


Porca praecidanea, 506 


Patria potestas, 178 


Porcelli, 468 


Pavimentum sectile, 270 


Poren s Trojanus, 121, w. 15 


Pecten, 461 


Porrum sectile et capitatum, 466 


Pectinata, 268 


Porta Capena, 47, 55 


Peculium of the slaves, 219 


Porta Metia, 223 j 


Pedisequi, 212 


Posca, a drink of the lower classes, 1 


PeUex, 169 


77,^.14 1 


Pellis, 342 


Post, between Eome and the pro- ^ 


Pelorides, 460 


vinces, 99, n. 2 


Pelvis, 306 


Postes, 240 s 


Penieuli, 307 


Posticiina, 242 


Pergulse, 268, 365 


Potina, 183 


Peristyliiim, 259 


Preeco, 201, 509 


Pero, 426 


Praefectus vigilum, 1, n.l 


Pessulus, 282 


Pr^fericidnm, 306 


Petasiis, 423 


Praefica, 311 


PetaTirist«, 210 


Praeficae, 511 


Petorritum, 348 


Praegustatores, 470 


Pheasants, ßl,n.S; 462 


Prandium, 454 


Phinins, 498 


Priapns, 468 


Phialge, 481 


Procurator, 204 


PhcEnicopterus, 463 


Procus, 170 


Pica salutatrix, 240 


Professio of children, 484 


Pigeons, 61, n.9; 462 


Programmata, 44, n. 8 


Pila, 299, 390 


Promiilsidare, 478 


Pila trigonalis, 402 


Promulsis, 456 


Pileatus, 122, w. 16; 201 


Promus, 205 


Pilentum, 347 


Pronubae, 160, 166 


Pileus, 423 


Psilothrum, 429 


Pinaeotheca, 263 


Pueri patrimi et matrimi, 160 


Piscina in the Baths, 375 


Pugillares, 338 


Piscinae, or vivaria piscium, 460 


Puis, 452 


Pisticnm, 242 


Pulvini, 111, n.3; garden -borders, 


Pistores, 452, 468 


360 


Pistrinum, 265 


Pumiliones, 210 y 


Plagge, 342 


Purple garments, 447 


Plumarius, 288 


Pyrgus, 498 




'It 

i 

i 



IKDEX. 



533 



Quadrantal, 479 
Quales-quales, 216 

Eelatives of a Eoman familia, 227 

Eelics, 18, n.S 

Eemancipatio, 176 

Eepagnla, 283 

Eepositoria, 478 

Eepotia, 166 

Eepudium, 171, 175 

Eestes, 286 

Eeticulum, 440 

Eheda, 348 

Ehodian hens, 60, n. 7 

Ehombus, 459 

Elijtium, 483 

Eicinium, 438 

Eings, 429 ; not taken off the corpse, 

506 
Eogus, 517 
Eosaria, 362 
Eoses for chaplets, 497 
"PvTou (drinking-horn), 483 

Saccus vinarius, 490 
Sacrarium, 263 
Salinum, 479 
Salutatio matntina, 227 
Salutigeruli piieri, 215 
Salve on the threshold, 240 
Sandapila, 513 
Sapa, 486 
Sarcophagi, 517 
Sartago, 299 
Savo, 56 
Scabella, 294 
Scamna, 294 
Scaphium, 395 
Scapi cardinales, 241 
Scams, 460 

Scholae, in the baths, 388 
Schools, 186 
Scimpodium, 291 
Scirpus, 308 
Scobis, 122, n. 18 
Scopfe, 122, «.18; 307 
Scissor, 469 
Scribre, 209, 324 



Scriniiim, 323, 332 

Scyphus, 481 

Sedile, 292 

Sella, 292 ; gestatoria, 343 

Semicinctinm, 432 

Sepultura, 516 

Sera, 281 

Serise, 487 

Serica, 442 

Sericaria, 443 

Sesterces, their value, 295 

Sextarins, 479 

Shell-fish, 460 

Sigilla, 302 

Sigma, 474 

Silentiarii in the familia, 206 

Silicernium, 520 

Sihgneus, 467 

Silk, for dresses, 442 

Simpulum, 305, 480 

Simpuvium, 306, 480 

Sindon, 444 

Simiessa, 56 

Sinus (of the toga), 413 

Siphones, I, n.l 

Situlus, 300 

Slave-family, 198 

slave-dealers, venalitii, 200 
price of slaves, 201 , 
number of slaves, 203 
names and classes, 204-17 
position and treatment, 217 
punishment, 220 
their apartments, 264 

Smegmata, 378 

Social G-ames, 499 

Solaria, 267 

Solarium, 318 

Sole», 424 

Solium, 293, 388 

Solum, 270 

Sordidati, 105, «.4 

Sparsiones in the theatre, 45, oi. 

Specularia, 277, 342 

Sphseristerium, 406 

Spina, 160 

Spoils on the doors, 8, w. 9 

Spoliatorium, 372 

Sponda orciniana, 513 



534 



INDEX. 



Sponda and pluteus on the lectus, 291 

Spongise, 307 

Sponsalia, 170 

Sportellae, 230 

Sportula, 228 

Stemmata, 15, n.S 

Stibadium, 474 

Stola, 433 

Stork, 463 

Stragula vestis, 287 

Street-lighting at Eome, 80, w. 19 

Strigiles, 393 

Strophium, 432 

Structor, 469 

Subsellia, 294 

Subserica, 442 

Subucula, 416 

Sudatio, 386 

Suggmnda, 269 

Sulphuratse institor mercis, 44, n.l 

Sumen, 464 

Supellex, 285 

Superstitions of the ancients, 118, 

n. 12 
Supparus, 417 
Suppromus, 206 
Susp en surge, 386 
Symphoniaci, 210, 470 
Synthesis, vestis coenatoria, 420, 444 

Tabellse, 332, 339 

Tabellarii, 339 

Tabemse, 46, n. 9 ; 266 
of the librarii, 335 
of the tonsores, 429 
diversorise or meritoriee, 354 

Tables, 294 

Table-utensils, 476 

Tablinum, 254 

Tabula, 190 

Tabula lusoria, 502 

Tabulae nuptiales, 164 

Tsedse, 308 

Tali, 499 

Tecta, 269 

Tegulse, 269 

Templum Feroniae, 55, w. 31 

Tepidarium, 385 

Terracina, 56 



Tessarse, 227, 499 
Testum, 299 
Textrinae, 289 
Textrinum, 448 
Thalassio, 161 
Thericuleum, 481 
Thermae, 389 
Thermopolium, 355 
Tibicines, 511 
Tinae, 488 
Tintinnabula, 241 
Tirocinium fori, 193 
Titulus, of the books, 329 
of the slaves when sold, 200 
of the imagines, 16, w. 4 
of the tomb, 522 
on the amphora of wine, 488 
Toga, 408 

introduced by the Etruscans, 409 
its form, 410 
modes of adjusting it, 411 
Toga meretricum, 435 
Toga virilis, when adopted, 196 

why libera, 197 
Toga pretexta, 183, 409 

picta, 288 

Togam mortui sumunt, 507 
Tollere liberos, 183 
Tomacula, 464 
Tomentum, 286, 517 
Tomus, 330 
Tonsor, 428 
Tonstrinae, 75, 428 
Tooth-picks, 128 
Torus, 286 
Topiarii, 359 
Toralia, 290, 477 
Toreuma, 304 
Toreutae, 19 
Transenna, 278 
Trapezophorae, 296 
Trichorum, 269 
Triclinares servi, 469 
Triclinia, 261, 469 
the lecti, 471 

rank of the different places, 472 
position of the host, 473 
Tricliniarcha, 469 
Trientes, 480 



IJSTDEX. 



535 



Trigon, 402 

Tripods, 297 

Triumpliator, 8,n.9; 184, 516 

Triumviri capitales et nocturni, 1, 

TruUae, 299 

TruUeum, 306 

Tubse, 511 

Tubera, 466 

Tunica recta or regilla, 164 

of the women, 432 

of the men, 416 
Turdus, 463 

Turres, 61, w. 9; 66, w. 19 
Turtures, 62, n. 10 
Tutulus, 440 

TTiva, 286 

UmbeUse, 438 

Umber, 463 

Umbilicus of the books, 328 

Umbo of the toga, 414 

Umbrse, 112, %. 6; 474 

Unctorium, 379 

Unguentarium, 394 

Urceoli ministratorii, 488, 495 

Urceus, 300 

Urna, 299, 479 

Urnse, 521 

Ustrina, 517 

Usurpatio trinoctii, 169 

Usus, 168 

Uxor, 168 

Vagitanus, 184 

Valvse, 278, 281 

Varronis inventum, 29, n. 3 

Vasa, 300 

Vas potorium, 395 

Vegetables, 465 

Vela in the theatres, 45, n. 8 

house, 252, 277, 306 

on the carriages, 342 
Velarii, 276 
Ventralia, 424 
Venus, or Venereus, at dice, 498 



Vernse, 202 
Versipelles, 120 
Veru, 299 
Vespillones, 507 
Vessels for holding liquids, 300 
Vestem mutare, 417 
Vestes stragulse, 287 
Vestiarii, 448 
Vestibulum, 237 
Via Appia, 39; 62, n. 35 
Viator, 55, w. 30 
Vicarius, 204 
Vigiles, 1,71.1 

Villa rustica, plan of, 58, n. 4 
rustica et pseudo-urbana, dis- 
tinction between, 58, n. 3 
Villicus, 359 
Violaria, 362 
Viridarii, 362 
Visceratio, 521 
Vitelliani, 338 
Vivaria piscium, 460 
Volema, 364 
Volsellse, 429 
Vulgares, 211 
Vulnerarii, 208 
Vulva, 464 

WaUs, 272 

Warming, method of, 278 

Window-gardens, 365 

Windows, 276 

Wine, 485 

process of making it, 486 

doliare, or de cupa, 487 

process of clearing it, 489 

colour, 491 

the different sorts, 492 

how mixed, 493 
Women, their position, 152 

dress of the, 431 

Words of abuse, 76, w. 13 

Xystus, 360 

Zythum, 485 



LOHDOK 
PEINTED BS" SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. 

WEW-STEEET SQUARE 



-jL^ 



tl 



I 



